March 1, 2012
Game Notes 
CHICAGO - The UIC softball team (7-7/0-0 Horizon League) travels to Orlando, Fla., to compete in the UCF & Holiday Inn Select Spring Fling, which features host team, UCF, Penn, Jacksonville and Stetson. The squad's first pitch goes out Friday at 10:00 a.m. (CT) against Penn at the UCF Softball Complex. LEAD-OFF HITS
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
The Flames carry a 7-7 overall record to date … Melissa Preish leads the squad with a .442 batting average, including 19 hits, two home runs and eight RBI … Jacki Fletcher ranks second with a .419 batting average, with 18 hits, five doubles and nine RBI … pitcher, Devin Miller, owns a 5-3 records with a 3.36 ERA with 37 strike outs.
SCOUTING THE QUAKERS
Penn enters the tournament with a 0-0 record … the team posted an 18-21-1 record in 2011 … the squad returns sophomore pitcher, Mikenzie Voves, who posted a 10-11 record in 2011 with a 4.18 ERA … Elysse Gorney leads the team with a .308 batting average from 2011.
SCOUTING THE HATTERS
The Hatters possess an 8-2 record … the team is led by Courtney Brandt with a .364 batting average, including three home runs … the leading pitchers for the Quakers are Meredith Owen with a 0.97 ERA and Courtney Brandt, 1.75 ERA … Chrissy Morello and Demi Meza lead the team in stolen bases with four.
SCOUTING THE DOLPHINS
This is the second time the Flames meet the Dolphins this season … UIC defeated Jacksonville 14-6 in six innings (Feb. 18) … in that contest, the Dolphins logged 12 hits and five RBI … Jacksonville is 8-8 … the squad uses three pitchers, Sara Sigrest has logged the most games, and carries a 5-3 record … Brittany Eppley pitched the majority of the contest against the Flames.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
The Knights are 8-7 … the squad has two student-athletes with a .333 batting average, Marissa Menendez and Vanessa Perez … UCF has three pitchers, Ali Schmidt (3-1), Mackenzie Audas (4-4) and Alex Hartshorn (1-2) … the team has a favorable record at home, 4-1 … Natalie Land is 8-9 on stolen bases.
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
Melissa Preish (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) favored right-center in a game where she hit a solo home run and a triple, as the UIC softball team (7-7/0-0 Horizon League) captured a 7-0 shutout over Idaho State in its final game of the aTen Construction Tournament on Sunday at Amy S. Harrison Field in Riverside, Calif. This was the team's second win over the Bengals this weekend, while going 3-1 overall.
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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--UIC—
