May 26--A wild pitch and a couple of comedic errors on one play stole the show in Illinois-Chicago's opening-round win Wednesday at the Horizon League Baseball Championships.
The Little League-like errors happened in the fourth inning of the Flames' game against Oakland. The play started when Oakland pitcher Jake Lee threw a wild pitch that bounced toward the Grizzlies dugout. Catcher Matt DiLeo slid toward the ball and threw it to home plate, but the ball bounced off of Lee's glove and rolled toward UIC's dugout.
Then first baseman Zach Sterry attempted to save the play by diving for the ball and flipping it toward the catcher, but he threw the ball behind home plate and into Oakland's dugout.
By the time a Grizzlies coach threw the ball out of the dugout in disgust, the Flames had scored three runs and taken a 9-6 lead.
Oakland committed five errors in the 10-9 loss, and the Flames advanced to the double-elimination round.
mdwojak@tribpub.com
