CHICAGO, Ill. – Indiana State's late-inning rally came up short as the Sycamores fell in Friday's series opener at UIC, 10-7.
 
SCHEDULE UPDATE: Saturday's scheduled contest between ISU and UIC has been postponed due to threat of inclement weather in the Chicago area. The teams will now play a doubleheader at Curtis Granderson Field on Sunday, April 2. First pitch in game one is set for 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT.
 
Trailing 5-3 in the top of the seventh, the Sycamores (12-12, 3-1 MVC) had new life as Grant Magill connected on a two-run home run over the ISU bullpen in left centerfield. The redshirt junior's blast scored Miguel Rivera and tied the game up heading into the seventh inning stretch.
 
UIC (10-11, 1-3 MVC) responded with a five-run inning in the bottom of the frame sparked by Ryan Nagelbach's go-ahead one-out solo home run to pull back ahead. Cole Conn added a wind-aided two-run double to right centerfield adding to the lead, while Charlie Szykowny's second two-run shot of the game capped the rally and give the Flames a 10-5 lead.
 
The Sycamores mounted rallies in both the eighth and ninth innings in nearly pulling off the comeback.
 
Josue Urdaneta followed a leadoff walk issued to Keegan Watson in the eighth with a two-run home run to right field pulling ISU back to within 10-7. Following Simon Gregersen's scoreless eighth on the mound, the Sycamores put two runners in scoring position and the tying run at the plate in the ninth. However, UIC reliever Tyler Ingram (S, 1) was able to close out the game getting the final Sycamore to fly out to left field to complete the Flames win.
 
Magill, Urdaneta, and Randal Diaz all homered for Indiana State as the Sycamores connected on nine hits in the loss. Keegan Watson added two doubles, while Luis Hernandez had a pair of hits in the contest.
 
Matt Jachec went 2.2 innings in the start as the Sycamore right-hander surrendered six hits and five runs while striking out four in a no-decision. Brennyn Cutts (0-3) took the loss in the contest, while Zach Davidson, Jacob Pruitt, Cam Edmonson, Jared Spencer, and Gregersen all saw time on the mound.
 
Charlie Szykowny homered twice and drove in a game-high four RBI, while Cole Conn went 4-for-5 from the plate as the Flames picked up their first win in MVC program history. UIC joined the Missouri Valley in the 2022-23 athletic year from the Horizon League.
 
Brandon Bak went six strong innings in the start for the Flames allowing six hits and four runs while striking out six. Zak Gould (3-1) picked up the win in relief, while Ingram went the final two innings to record his first save.
 
How They Scored

• Randal Diaz put the Sycamores ahead early in the top of the first as the sophomore connected on a 1-2 offering and drove the ball over the wall in left centerfield scoring Seth Gergely to give ISU the 2-0 lead.
• UIC responded with a three-run bottom of the first to take the 3-2 lead highlighted by a Charlie Szykowny two-run home run to left center.
• The Sycamores tied the game in the top of the second as Keegan Watson scored on Miguel Rivera's RBI groundout to knot the game up at 3-3.
• AJ Henkle's one-out, two-run single in the bottom of the second put the Flames back in the lead as UIC took advantage of an ISU error to go ahead 5-3.
• Grant Magill tied the game up in the top of the seventh as the Sycamore catcher connected on his second home run of 2023 scoring Miguel Rivera to knot the game up at 5-5.
• UIC answered in the bottom of the seventh with a five-run frame as Ryan Nagelbach (solo) and Charlie Szykowny (two-run) both homered, while Cole Conn added a wind-aided two-run double to highlight the inning.
• Josue Urdaneta connected on his first home run of the 2023 season in the top of the eighth inning with a two-run shot to right field scoring Keegan Watson to narrow the UIC lead down to 10-7. 

News & Notes

• Keegan Watson posted Indiana State's sixth two-double game of the 2023 season after doubling to lead off both the second and fourth innings on Friday afternoon.
• Josue Urdaneta became the 12th Sycamore to homer in the 2023 season as the redshirt junior second baseman connected on a two-run shot in the top of the eighth inning. Urdaneta's home run marked his first since May 10, 2022, at Vanderbilt.
• Randal Diaz added his fourth home run of the season after the sophomore shortstop connected on a two-run shot in the first inning.
• Grant Magill's two-run shot marked his second home run of the season and first since his grand slam on March 10 at Memphis.
• Nine of Indiana State's 27 home runs have come in Missouri Valley play following the three homers on Friday afternoon.
• Mike Sears extended his career best on-base streak to 20 consecutive games following his seventh inning walk.
• Sears' 20-game streak marks the longest on-base streak by an active Sycamore and longest by an ISU player since Jordan Schaffer reached base 27 consecutive games spanning the end of the 2021 season (12 games) and the start of 2022 (15 games).
• Luis Hernandez extended his on-base streak to 18 games following his 2-for-4 day at the plate.
• Hernandez's two-hit game marked his team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the season.
• Keegan Watson ran his on-base streak to 12 consecutive games following his 2-for-3 day at the plate.
• Seth Gergely and Watson both extended their team-leading hitting streaks to eight games on Friday afternoon.

Up Next
Indiana State and UIC will continue the weekend series with a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon following the announcement of Saturday's postponement. First pitch in game one at Curtis Granderson Stadium is set for 1 p.m. ET/Noon CT. Both games will be streamed live via ESPN+ and 105.5 The Legend.
 
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