UIC beat Murray State 6-5 and advanced to the MVC Baseball Championship Series, then finished the day crowned 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champions. The Flames built the win with early pressure, a sixth-inning surge and just enough late defense to hold on.
Alexander Wright started the scoring in the first inning with a groundout that drove in Lucas Smith, putting UIC up 1-0. The Flames added another two-out run in the inning and took a 3-1 lead, then stretched it to 4-1 in the second after TC dropped one in. Murray State answered in the third, when Gavin Acosta made a reflexive defensive play that helped keep the game tight at 4-2, and Ashton Kampa’s sacrifice fly in the fourth restored a three-run cushion at 5-2.
The game tightened again in the sixth, when markdashark38 entered and the score sat at 4-5, but Acosta followed with his first home run of the year to push UIC back in front 6-4. A catch in the seventh helped preserve the edge, and UIC closed out the 6-5 win. The result capped a run that also sent Southern Illinois to the 2026 MVC Baseball Championship Game after a pair of wins on Saturday, as the conference adjusted its Friday schedule and listed Game 6 as Southern Illinois against Evansville.
UIC’s reward came with the next step already in view: the Flames drew No. 2 Georgia Tech in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. For UIC Baseball, the title and the bracket line tell the same story — a championship earned in the final innings, then a national test waiting immediately after.
