BOX SCORES
Game 1: Detroit 7, UIC 6 (8 inn.)
Game 2: UIC 10, Detroit 2
DETROIT-- Sophomore Sara Cupp's walkoff homer in the eighth inning sealed a 7-6 Detroit win over UIC Saturday as the team's split a Horizon League doubleheader at Buysse Ballpark. She hit another homer in game two to give her nine on the season and move her into third all-time on the school's single-season homer list.
GAME ONE
The Titans (10-28, 2-9 HL) scored in each of the final four innings to help rally past the Flames (18-22, 5-6) in the opener. UIC had a 4-0 advantage heading into the bottom of the third inning.
Rachel Copple-- one of two seniors honored before the game-- produced the Titans' first run with a sacrifice fly to left field. The big inning would be the fifth as Detroit scored three to even the score.
In that inning, two walks and an error loaded the bases with two down for Shelby Long. The Titan backstop whacked a single through the left side of the infield that kicked past the leftfielder and the bases emptied to erase UIC's lead completely.
Detroit pulled ahead for the first time in the next inning on another unearned run. A passed ball helped Allayna Stolp scamper in for a 5-4 Detroit lead.
It was short-lived, however, as UIC posted a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to regain control at 6-5. It provided the prelude to the bottom of the frame and the extra inning that would give the home team its 10th win of the season.
Down to their final out, the Titans scored a run on an error to send it to extras. Long walked to start the inning and went to third on Alyssa Gietl's base knock. After a strikeout, Alyssa Schaub hit a shot to third that Jenna Marsalli couldn't handle and Long crossed with the sixth Titan run.
Kat Hoffman, who came on in relief an inning prior, got three straight groundouts in the eighth and Cupp was set-up to be the hero. She wasted little time, hammering a ball over the right-centerfield wall for her second late-inning, go-ahead homer of the week (at Bowling Green).
Hoffman earned the win, throwing two innings, allowing just a leadoff double in her first batter of the seventh. Renee Zaccagni-- the second senior honored-- had a pair of hits to lead the offense in game two.
GAME TWO
UIC got revenge in the second game, pounding out 20 hits en route to a 10-2 win. The Flames scored six runs in the first two innings combined to jump out to a 6-0 lead.
Karyn McCarty got the Titans out of the second inning and then cruised relatively easily through the third through sixth innings, scattering five hits through the middle four frames to keep Detroit within striking distance. The Titans got a pair back in the sixth after a leadoff homer by Cupp for her third dinger in four games. A bases-loaded walk by Gietl produced the second run, but the Titans left them loaded in the inning, avoiding further damage.
UIC grabbed four runs in the seventh to tally the final winning margin. The top six spots in the UIC order were credited with 18 of the visitors' hit total in game two.
Copple reached base three times Saturday-- all via hit by pitch-- to run her streak of consecutive games on base to 13.
The teams will conclude the series Sunday with a single game at Buysse Ballpark at noon.
