May 5, 2009
Maroons Win Home Finale

CHICAGO -- Senior starting pitcher Alex Gallan (Downers Grove, Ill./ South) earned his first victory of the year and freshman reliever Alex Garcia (Chicago, Ill./ DeLaSalle) notched his first career save as the University of Chicago baseball team closed out the home portion of its schedule with an 8-4 win over North Central College Tuesday at J. Kyle Anderson Field.

After giving up two runs in the opening inning, Gallan (1-1) held North Central to just one run over the next four frames. In five innings of work, he yielded six hits and two walks while striking out three.

In his longest outing of the year, Garcia allowed one run on five hits in the game's final four innings. He walked a pair and fanned two as the Maroons (18-11) won for the 12th time in their last 14 outings.

Trailing 3-1, Chicago scored three runs in the bottom of the third and maintained the lead the rest of the way. Senior catcher Tom Gonzalez's (Newton, Mass./ North) two-out base hit plated sophomore left fielder Zach Osman (Long Beach, Ind./ Marquette) with what proved to be the winning run.

Freshman third baseman Stephen Williams (Malibu, Calif./ Malibu) belted a bases-clearing double in the bottom of the seventh to account for the Maroons' final runs of the game.

Senior center fielder Kyle Schmitt (Hoffman Estates, Ill./ Fremd) went 3-for-4 to lead a 13-hit Chicago attack. Sophomore right fielder Marshall Oium (Temecula, Calif./ Great Oak) went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs.

Chicago, which has five road games remaining, finished its home slate with a 9-3 record.

Tyler Herman (0-3) took the loss for North Central (10-24-1). Right fielder Matt Abraham had three hits in four at-bats with three RBIs on the day.

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