The Commodores ran into trouble in the ninth when No. 3 hitter Larry Gempp, Jr. doubled to right. That's when coach Tim Corbin brought in dominant closer Casey Weathers and his 99 MPH fastball.

First, Weathers fanned cleanup hitter Brett Schaeffer by blowing two fastballs by him, then taking a bit off for a swinging strike three.

Then, Tyler Moore couldn't check his swing on a 3-2 pitch that looked to catch the corner of the plate anyway for the second out.

Finally, Weathers got Mike Kaffel on a weak first-pitch grounder to Ryan Flaherty at short, saving Christiani's win.

UIC's Steve Crnkovich picked up a tough-luck loss, and pitched about as well as is humanly possible. The only ball hit hard off him all day was a double by Alex Feinberg, but unfortunately for the Flames, Feinberg's double came with a man on and provided Vandy's only run.

The Commodores now have 2-1 and 1-0 wins in the series, with the finale scheduled for 1 p.m. Central time on Sunday at Hawkins Field.