Feb. 23, 2012

Game Notes

CHICAGO - The UIC softball team (4-6/0-0 Horizon League) "returns home" as one-third of the team hails from Calif., in addition to assistant coach, Eileen Canney, for the aTen Construction Tournament at the Amy S. Harrison Field in Riverside, Calif. UC-Riverside plays host to the four-team tournament that begins Friday and continues through Sunday.

The Flames face Idaho State Friday at 11:00 a.m. (CT), followed by UC-Riverside at 4:00 p.m., before facing South Dakota Saturday at 11:00 a.m. then, Idaho State Sunday at 11:30 a.m. to conclude the event.

LEAD-OFF HITS

FRESH FACES

Head coach, Michelle Venturella, welcomes a new coaching staff ... hitting coach, Sami Baugh, who served as the top assistant coach at Central Michigan for the past four years. Prior to her coaching stint, Baugh was a four-time letterwinning catcher and three-time Academic all-Big Ten selection at Iowa ... pitching coach, Eileen Canney, a two-time All-American and former Northwestern pitcher joins the Flames with a wealth of playing experience at the collegiate, national and international level. Canney served as a coach during the 2011 Under Armour All-American high school game ... volunteer assistant, Heather Han, joins the staff after playing and coaching at Eastern Michigan.

HORIZON LEAGUE PRESEASON PICK

A 2012 Horizon League Tournament championship gave the Flames their first NCAA berth since 2004. UIC concluded the 2011 season with the top fielding percentage in the league, .968 percent. Junior Coryn Schmit (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) tied for third place in homeruns with 10, while junior Devin Miller (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) blanked 227 batters to finish third in strikeouts.

LAST TIME OUT

The UIC softball team (4-6/0-0 Horizon League) scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie Providence (1-4), 5-5 and evened out the score yet again in the seventh (7-7) to send the game into extra innings. The Friars outlasted the Flames, 9-8 with the international tie-breaking rule in the eighth inning Sunday (Feb. 19) in the final day of the Blue & Gold Felsburg Memorial tournament at the FIU Softball Complex in Miami, Fla. Sophomore Jacki Fletcher (Lowell, Ind./Lowell) led the Flames with five hits during her five at-bats of the contest, while also recording an RBI. Senior Ashley Hewett (La Palma, Calif., John F. Kennedy) and junior Melissa Preish (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) chipped in two hits on the day.

2011 HORIZON LEAGUE HONORS - SCHMIT & HERNANDEZ

Schmit was a postseason first-team all-Horizon League honoree as she had a league-best slugging percentage of .800, while also leading the Flames in homeruns with six. The first baseman logged 16 RBI in 20 League contests, and concluded the season with a .315 batting average. Natalie Hernandez (Glendora, Calif./Glendora) garnered 2011 postseason all-second and all-newcomer Horizon League honors after the shortstop posted a .349 batting average, while committing only four errors on the season. She added nine RBI, three homeruns and a triple during her rookie season.

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