Aug. 10, 2011

CHICAGO - UIC head softball coach, Michelle Venturella, who is entering her fourth season at the helm of the program, announced the 2011 softball schedule for the fall season Wednesday. The fall slate consists of five dates, including three events at Flames Field.

"I am extremely excited entering this 2011-12 season with the level of talent we have returning from last year," Venturella said. "We have seven of nine returners, including Coryn Schmit, who was solid for us both offensively and defensively, Natalie Hernandez came in as a freshman and did a phenomenal job at short stop, Teresa Aguilar is one of the best catchers in the Midwest, Melinda Macias has been solid her entire career here, as well as Devin Miller, who did a nice job on the mound and Ashley Hewett had a nice offensive presence in the tournament."

The fall campaign begins Sept. 10, as the 2011-12 Flames team welcome alumni back to campus. Events for the day begin with an intrasquad scrimmage at 2:00 p.m. (CT), followed by a presentation of the team's championship rings from their first-place finish at the 2011 Horizon League Championship. Upon the conclusion of the event, former Flames student-athletes will take the field for the alumni game, which begins at 4:00 p.m.

The following weekend (Sept. 17) UIC returns to Flames Field to face Wisconsin at 2:00 p.m. and Heartland at 4:00 p.m. The final home stand for the Flames is Sept. 23 in a doubleheader against Northwestern with the first pitch set to take place at 5:00 p.m.

UIC takes to the road on Oct. 1, with a trip to Bloomington, Ill., to play Western Illinois at 2:30 p.m. and Illinois State at 5:00 p.m. at Marian Kneer Stadium. The following day, the team remains at the Illinois State facilities with the opponents and time of play still to be determined.

"We are excited to start where we left off," Venturella said. "There is a higher level of expectation for this team, and we are still fairly young, but a determined team. I'm excited to see this group achieve even more this year. It's all about doing the work, no excuses and getting results. That will be our focus as we start practices this fall and it will be the same focus heading into the spring season."

On the newcomers ...

"I'm very excited about the incoming class," said Venturella. "We have great kids coming in that will help our program in a few different ways. Erica Hampton can do just about anything, she is a tremendous catcher, but also can play the infield or outfield. She has a great mind for the game. Faith Johnson is a tremendous athlete, who will do great things as a middle infielder once she is healthy. Breann Warren is a corner player who brings a lot of power in her bat. She has a great personality that any coach would love to have on their team."