Northern Illinois and Illinois-Chicago saw their seasons end over the weekend in the double-elimination NCAA baseball regionals.
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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.
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.