NORMAL, Ill. -- The UIC baseball team dropped its first midweek game of the season Wednesday afternoon, falling future Missouri Valley foe Illinois State by a 9-5 margin on the road. UIC battled back the entire game, only to see the Redbirds answer the Flames' threat each time.
 
The Redbirds struck first, scoring a run in the bottom of the first on a solo shot before adding four more on in the third.
 
UIC, who had been limited to just one hit through the first three innings, came to life in the fifth to climb back into the game. Breck Nowik launched his first collegiate home run to open the top of the fifth before the next two batters were retired.
 
The Flames mounted a two-out rally in the fifth as Garrett McCarthy doubled and Clay Conn walked, bringing Rayth Petersen up to the plate. With the count at 2-1, Petersen roped a double down the left field line to plate McCarthy and move Conn to third. Bryan Rosario walked to load the bases, but a strikeout would end the threat.
 
Illinois State quickly countered in the home half of the fifth as a two-run home run pushed the lead back to five at 7-2.
 
Weather conditions began to turn and assisted in UIC's third run of the game. The Flames had runners on the corners with one away in the top of the sixth when Illinois State's pitcher lost his footing on the mound, resulting in a balk to plate Ryan Nagelbach and cutting Illinois State's lead to 7-3.
 
The Flames continued to battle back as a pair of run-scoring singles in the seventh made it a 7-5 score. Petersen singled with one away before stealing second. The sophomore would come around to score on a single to left by Rosario. Rosario, who advanced to second on a wild pitch, would then score on Cole Conn's single to right.
 
UIC's threat was once again countered by Illinois State, who plated a pair in the bottom of the seventh to push the lead to 9-5. Neither team would score in the final two innings as the Redbirds would close out the 9-5 victory.
 
The Flames return to action this weekend with a three-game home series against Milwaukee. First pitch on Friday is set for 4:05 p.m.
 
News and Notes

• A total of 13 pitchers were used in Wednesday's contest. The Flames sent six pitchers out to the mound while Illinois State used seven arms.
• Nagelbach and Petersen each extended their on-base streaks to a team-leading 11 consecutive games.
• True freshman Ryan Smith made his UIC debut, pitching two innings of relief work and collecting a pair of strikeouts.
• Conn and Petersen each led the way with two hits apiece for the Flames.