Northern Illinois and Illinois-Chicago saw their seasons end over the weekend in the double-elimination NCAA baseball regionals.
NIU (36-19), competing as the No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional, defeated No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina 12-10 on Friday. The Huskies jumped out to a large lead and then held off a late rally by the Chanticleers for the first NCAA Tournament win in program history.
Saturday’s scheduled game against No. 4 seed St. John’s was postponed until Sunday afternoon, when the Huskies lost 21-8 despite a pair of home runs from designated hitter Marcus Romero.
In an elimination game Sunday night, NIU lost to top seed Florida State 7-4 in 10 innings. The Seminoles, the No. 10 national seed, put up three runs in the 10th to advance to the regional final against St. John’s.
UIC (27-29-1) was the No. 4 seed in the Atlanta Regional and opened Friday with a 22-5 loss to top seed Georgia Tech, which is the No. 2 national seed.
The Flames then lost their elimination game Saturday in extra innings, falling 9-8 to The Citadel. Ashton Kampa’s first of two home runs helped UIC rally in the eighth, and Alexander Wright’s solo shot in the ninth tied the game.
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Kampa’s second home run put the Flames ahead in the 10th, but Zach Hunt’s two-run single off Jake Jakubowski in the bottom of the inning ended UIC’s season.