CHICAGO (Interstat) — Gavin Acosta’s solo home run in the sixth inning broke a 5-5 tie and lifted Illinois-Chicago to a 6-5 victory over Murray State on Saturday afternoon and evening.

The Racers took an early lead on Kris Hokenson’s RBI single in the first. Illinois-Chicago answered with three runs in the bottom half, including a two-run single by Vidal Colon. The Flames added another run in the second on Thomas Curry’s RBI single.

Murray State chipped away with single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings, tying the game at 5-5 on Colby Ott’s sacrifice fly. Acosta then homered to left field to put the Flames ahead for good. Kainen Jorge homered for the Racers in the ninth, but they fell short.

Brandon Bak pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits while striking out three for Illinois-Chicago. Mark Eddie contributed 3 1/3 innings of relief, surrendering one run. Ben Rosin threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings for Murray State. Hokenson and Curry each drove in two runs.