Baseball scores third straight win

Mickey McDonald posted two hits Sunday. ­(Photo: Steve Woltmann)

UIC matched its longest win streak of the season Sunday by rattling off its third consecutive victory.

The Flames trailed Chicago State, 1-0 and 3-2, but the team rallied for a run in the sixth and the go-ahead tally in the eighth to win, 4-3.

The game featured 21 combined hits, but only seven runs. UIC’s (7-6) David Cronin, Ricardo Ramirez and Mickey McDonald each posted two hits with McDonald scoring two runs. McDonald tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth on an RBI single from Thomas Norton before Cronin’s two-out knock in the eighth brought him home for the game-winning run.

Alex Padilla threw 2.2 scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts to collect his second win. Reid Birlingmair made his fourth start and fanned six Cougars (3-9) over six innings on the bump. He allowed eight hits and walked one, but Chicago State only scratched out three runs during his outing.

The Flames open a three-game series Friday versus Youngstown State at 4:05 p.m. at Curtis Granderson Stadium.