Nov. 15, 2011
CHICAGO - UIC softball head coach Michelle Venturella announced that three student-athletes have inked a National Letter of Intent to continue their softball careers and academic careers at UIC in the fall of 2012.
Lindsay Melson (Harvard, Ill./Marengo), Laura Swan (Glendora, Calif./St. Lucy's) and Brittany Burkhalter (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) join the Flames roster at the start of the 2012 academic year and begin competition in February of 2013.
"We are so excited to have Laura, Brittany and Lindsay join the UIC family," Venturella said. "All three of them have the passion and commitment necessary to not only play at this level, but to keep the program moving towards the vision of being a national contender. We are very proud to have these young women join us and look for great things from each of them."
Melson is a three-time letterwinning pitcher at Marengo Community, where she has served as team captain and led her team to regional championships during her freshman and sophomore seasons. Her successful freshman and sophomore seasons propelled her to the all-Big Northern, all-city and all-area teams, while also being named the team MVP.
In 2011, as a junior, Melson recorded two perfect games, in addition to notching 19 strikeouts in a seven-inning game. That same season, she earned a .43 ERA in 81 innings of work with 150 strikeouts and held her opponents to a .107 batting average.
Melson was named the Nationals MVP in 2010 with the McHenry County Heatwave Black team.
The daughter of Jim and Lisa Melson, she has a brother Ryan, who plays baseball at Grinnell.
Swan joins the Flames as a three-time letterwinner at St. Lucy's, where she plays shortstop and third base. She is a three-time all-Sierra League team honoree, in addition to receiving the all-League Academic Athlete Award winner in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Swan has a plethora of experience with various summer travel programs. Most recently, she helped the Corona Angels to a fifth-place finish at the 2011 ASA Champions Cup.
The daughter of Charles and Diana Swan, she has two siblings, Kaitlyn and Jasen.
Burkhalter is a three-time letterwinner at Noblesville, where she has assisted the Millers to three (2009, '10, '11) Hoosier Crossroads Conference Championships. Her success earned her all-conference and all-county accolades as a sophomore and junior and all-state honors during her junior season.
Burkhalter has improved her batting average each season as she had a .289 slugging percentage as a freshman (2009), including four RBI. In 2010, she elevated her batting average to .517 as she logged 10 RBI and had 14 stolen bases. Most recently, she hit at a clip of .519 and homered four times, while earning 17 RBI and nine stolen bases.
The daughter of Todd and Ursula Buckhalter, she has one brother, Anthony.
--UIC—
