April 28, 2014
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CHICAGO - The UIC softball team (12-24) welcomes Northern Illinois (20-27) to Flames Field on Tuesday for its last home game of the regular season. First pitch between the Flames and Huskies is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CT.
UIC returns home after dropping its three-game series at Green Bay this past weekend, April 26-27. Alex Wyss, Laura Swan and Jacki Fletcher had at least one hit in each game, with Wyss going 4-for-9 (.444) and Swan picking up her third homer of the season with two RBI.
This season, Paige Peterson owns a .416 batting average and is riding an 11-game hitting streak, while Fletcher (.409) and Natalie Hernandez (.402) continue to sit above .400. Hernandez leads the team with 31 runs, 49 hits, eight home runs and 33 RBI.
Alice Fitzpatrick has gone 83.1 innings in the circle for the Flames with a 4.12 ERA and 53 strikeouts, as Bridget Boyle has pitched 93.0 innings for a 4.89 ERA and has tied Elaine Heflin with 46 strikeouts.
Northern Illinois is back in action after going 1-5 over the last seven days, with a split against Kent State and losses to Loyola and Buffalo. UIC owns a slight 27-21 all-time series lead against the Huskies after taking a 5-4 win on the road last season.
NIU is being led this season by Kayti Grable (.385), Emily Naegele (.345), Nicole Gremillion (.335) and Jessica Sturm (.317), with Grable and Gremillion each producing 55 hits. Grable additionally holds eight homers, with Gremillion adding 30 runs and Naegele owning the RBI category with 36.
Pitching for the Huskies, Jessica Sturm (2.42 ERA) and Rebecca Rupard (5.60 ERA) have received a majority of the starts, with Sturm going 156.0 innings and Rupard pitching 108.2. Sturm holds a 14-14 record and the most strikeouts with 53, while Rupard has gone 4-10 in the circle.
