MURRAY, Ky. (Interstat) — Ashton Kampa’s three-run homer in the eighth inning broke open a tight contest and propelled Illinois-Chicago to a 7-2 victory over Southern Illinois on Sunday in the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship.

The Flames, the seed in the tournament, improved to 27-27 overall and captured their first MVC tournament title since 2022. Southern Illinois, the seed, finished 27-32 after dropping the championship game.

Illinois-Chicago rapped out 10 hits, while the Salukis managed only three — a solo home run by Kristian Sprawling, a double by Michael Mylott and a single by Mason Schwalbach.

The game began with Illinois-Chicago taking the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Thomas Curry crushed a 1-0 pitch over the left-center field fence for a solo home run, giving the Flames a 1-0 advantage.

Southern Illinois answered immediately. In the top of the second, Mylott doubled to the right-field gap. The ball was misplayed by Lucas Smith, who threw errantly to second base, allowing Mylott to advance to third. He then scored on the same error, tying the game at 1-1.

An inning later, Sprawling led off the third with a homer to left field, putting the Salukis ahead 2-1.

Illinois-Chicago starter Kendall Lyons settled down after that, retiring seven of the next eight batters. He allowed only two hits over six innings.

The Flames tied the game in the fourth. Will Flanigan doubled to right-center with two outs and scored when Sean Cody singled to left field, making it 2-2.

The score remained deadlocked until the sixth, when Illinois-Chicago broke through against reliever Dylan Petrey. Alexander Wright singled to shortstop, and Vidal Colon doubled down the left-field line, putting runners at second and third. Flanigan grounded out to second base, bringing home Wright and moving Colon to third. Colon then came home on a fielding error by Southern Illinois shortstop, giving the Flames a 4-2 lead.

Southern Illinois had a chance to cut into the deficit in the top of the fifth. Jaden Flores was hit by a pitch, and Schwalbach singled to right field, putting runners at first and third. But Sprawling grounded into a double play, ending the threat. The Salukis did not get another runner past first base the rest of the game.

In the eighth, the Flames put the game out of reach. Flanigan was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Cody sacrificed him to second, and Gavin Acosta walked. Kampa then launched a 3-0 fastball over the right-center field wall for a three-run homer, his second hit of the game.

Kampa had singled in the third inning. Curry also had two hits, including his home run. Flanigan, Colon, Cody and Ashton Kampa each finished with multiple hits for Illinois-Chicago.

Southern Illinois used five pitchers. Starter Andrew Evans allowed two runs on six hits in four innings. Petrey took the loss, giving up two runs — one earned — in two innings. Gio De Graauw, Matt Irvine and Jackson Smith also pitched before Alec Ammerman recorded the final two outs.

Lyons earned the win for Illinois-Chicago, scattering two hits over six innings while striking out three and walking none. Jared Lessman pitched a scoreless seventh, and Jacob Jakubowski worked a perfect eighth and ninth to seal the victory.

The game, which began in the afternoon and stretched into the evening, featured two errors by Southern Illinois that led to two unearned runs.

Illinois-Chicago advanced to the championship by beating Murray State on Saturday, while Southern Illinois won two games Saturday — against Murray State and Indiana State — to reach the final.

No betting information was available for this game.