Baseball team wins league title

UIC won the regular season finale at Wright State Saturday, 5-2, to capture the Horizon League’s regular season championship.

The Flames (36-15, 22-8 Horizon League) took the crown for the 13th time in program history, and the second time in three years.

As a reward for finishing with 22 Horizon League wins, and the conference’s best record, UIC will host the Horizon League Tournament at Granderson Stadium Wednesday through Saturday. The Flames will be the bracket’s top seed and will play their first game at 11 a.m. Thursday. UIC will face the lowest remaining seed between No. 4 Valparaiso, No. 5 Oakland and No. 6 Milwaukee.

For the first time in program history, four members of the baseball team have earned league awards. Junior Rob Calabrese is the 2017 Horizon League Player of the Year, senior Jake Dahlberg is the League’s Pitcher of the Year, and redshirt sophomore Alex Padilla is the Relief Pitcher of the Year. For the 10th time in 19 seasons at the helm, Mike Dee has been named the Horizon League Coach of the Year.

Eight Flames were placed on either the All-Horizon League First or Second teams. Calabrese, Dahlberg and Padilla earned a First Team nod, as did senior shortstop Cody Bohanek. UIC is well represented on the Second Team by second baseman David Cronin, center fielder Mickey McDonald and starting pitchers Jack Andersen and Reid Birlingmair. Right-handed pitcher Jacob Key claimed a place on the All-Freshman Team.