April 10, 2012
CHICAGO - The UIC softball team faces Loyola in a single game Wednesday, followed by a doubleheader Thursday inside Loyola Softball Park in Chicago, Ill. Competition begins at 3:00 p.m. (CT) both days.
LEAD-OFF HITS
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
UIC has a 16-19 record … Melissa Preish has a .376 batting average over 101 at-bats, including five doubles, one triple, three homeruns and 14 RBI … Coryn Schmit leads the team in RBI with 24, while Jenna Marsalli has 20 … Schmit has six homeruns to lead UIC … Devin Miller and Ashley Hewett have shared time in the circle … Miller, 9-11, has a 4.23 ERA and has pitched 132.1 innings … Hewett, 6-8, carries a 3.55 ERA, has 67 strikeouts through 86.2 innings.
UIC IN THE HORIZON LEAGUE
The Flames are 3-3 in the Horizon League through two conference series … UIC won the Cleveland State series, 2-1 … the Vikings claimed the first game 3-1, before UIC picked up the final two games, 8-1 and 6-5 … the Bulldogs won the series with UIC, 2-1 … UIC dropped the first two games, 4-3 and 9-0, in that order, before winning the final game 8-4.
SCOUTING THE RAMBLERS
Loyola has a 13-16 record … Jessica Balzano leads the team with a .310 average, and has a total of 27 hits … Brittany Gardner, who won the pitcher of the week for April 9, leads the team in the circle with a 9-5 record and 4.16 ERA … other Ramblers pitchers include, Amanda Ciran (1-11/3.34), Keali Engelkens (3-0/3.39) and Seana Stillson (0-0/3.82).
LOYOLA IN THE HORIZON LEAGUE
The Ramblers have competed in one more Horizon League series than UIC, and have a 6-3 record … Olivia Bell leads the team in the League with a .391 average with 23 at-bats, she has nine hits and two RBI … Lauren Arceneaux is 4-5 on stolen bases … Gardner is undefeated (5-0) against conference opponents with a 1.02 ERA.
100 … AND COUNTING.
Miller earned her 100th-season strikeout in the first game of a double header against IUPUI on March 31, it was the final out of the contest as UIC won, 2-0 … since, the junior has blanked an addition 12 batters to place her strikeout count at 112.
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. Schmit tied for third place in homeruns with 10, while Miller blanked 227 batters to finish third in strikeouts.
LAST TIME OUT
UIC compiled a 1-2 record against Butler in a three-game series … the Flames dropped the first two games of the series, 4-3 and 9-0, respectively … UIC won the final contest 8-4 … Melinda Macias earned a .667 batting average in the series, in nine at-bats, she hit six hits, including two doubles and two RBI.
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. Hernandez 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—
