CHICAGO (Interstat) — Illinois-Chicago right-hander Kendall Lyons pitched seven shutout innings and Jake Busson homered twice to lead the Flames to a 5-0 victory over Youngstown State on Sunday afternoon at Les Miller Field at Curtis Granderson Stadium.

Lyons scattered five hits, struck out nine and did not walk a batter, lowering his earned-run average after a rocky relief appearance earlier in the week. He retired nine of the first 10 hitters he faced and worked out of a second-inning jam when Youngstown State put a runner on third with one out.

The Penguins managed six hits but grounded into two double plays and struck out 12 times against Lyons and two relievers. Youngstown State fell to 9-34 overall as it dropped the final game of the three-game series. Illinois-Chicago improved to 18-23.

Busson broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Will Flanigan drew a one-out walk, Busson drove a 1-1 pitch over the left-field wall for a two-run homer. It was the only damage against Youngstown State starter Brandon Mikos, who allowed no hits but walked four and was charged with three earned runs in 5.1 innings. Mikos struck out three but struggled with command.

The Flames added a run in the sixth. Sean Cody led off with a double to left field, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by James Hackett and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Vidal Colon. Cody finished 1 for 2 with two runs scored.

Busson struck again in the seventh. Facing reliever Luke Zmolik, he led off with a solo home run to left, his second of the game and third of the series. Busson went 2 for 4 with three RBIs.

Illinois-Chicago capped the scoring in the eighth. Cody walked, stole second and third, then scored on a single to right field by Colon, who had two RBIs.

Aidan Terronez pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing one hit, and Zack Millsap worked a perfect ninth to close it out.

Youngstown State’s best scoring opportunity came in the second inning. Alex Jang singled and stole second, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Misael Uriepero. But Penguins cleanup hitter Chyran Humphries struck out swinging and Nic Goodwin grounded out to third.

Jang led the Penguins offense with three hits, going 3 for 4. Garrett Cutting doubled in the sixth, but the Penguins could not cash in after a walk to Ryan Schummer put runners on first and third with one out. Brady Shannon grounded into a double play to end the threat.

Youngstown State also wasted a leadoff single in the seventh when Uriepero grounded into another double play. The Penguins have lost nine of their last 10 games and have been shut out four times this season.

The series sweep gave Illinois-Chicago its third straight win and its second consecutive series victory. The Flames outscored Youngstown State 21-10 over the three games.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Illinois-Chicago 7, Youngstown State 3, and the Interstat ELO system gave the Flames an 81.60 percent probability to win the game.