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CHICAGO - After playing 11-straight Horizon League games, the UIC softball team (19-16, 10-4 HL) will make its way to Peoria, Ill., on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. CT nonconference contest against Bradley (15-30, 9-11 MVC) at Laura Bradley Park. The game will serve as the first meeting on the Braves' turf since 2011.

The Flames return to action after picking up a 2-1 series win at home against Youngstown State (April 17-18). UIC took game one, 6-3, before splitting a doubleheader with a 17-4 (5) loss and 4-0 win. The Flames tallied 22 hits in the series with five players grabbing a trio, including Kaleigh Nagle who led the squad with a .429 average. Elaine Heflin was stellar in the circle for UIC as she owned a 0.50 ERA in 14 innings after pitching two complete-game wins with 14 total strikeouts.

Statistically on the season, Eleni Polites (.374), Tiana Mack-Miller (.361), Amanda Mener (.342) and Paige Peterson (.340) are having the greatest plate production, as the team is batting .296 with eight hits per game. Mack-Miller has grabbed a team-high 39 hits, 12 doubles, three home runs (along with Peterson) and 26 RBI.

Heflin (3.17 ERA) and Bridget Boyle (4.56 ERA) have controlled the pitching rubber this season with respective wins of eight and six. Heflin has 10 complete games in 16 starts along with 77 strikeouts in 108.1 innings, as Boyle owns four complete games in 14 starts with 46 strikeouts in 81.1 frames. As a staff, the Flames have 156 Ks and have held their opponents to a .273 batting average.

Bradley is in the midst of an eight-game homestand, which recently got underway with a three-game series against Wichita State that gave the Braves a 1-2 result. The reigning Missouri Valley Conference champions are 8-5 at home this season, with seven of those wins coming in conference play.

Erika Hansen (.362), Kelly Kapp (.354) and Maria Schroeder (.325) have come up with the top hitting performances for Bradley. Kapp tops the hit total with 57 as well as stolen bases with 21, while Hansen owns 16 doubles and 35 RBI and Shannon King has six of the team's 22 home runs.

Alyson Spinas-Valainis (4.07 ERA) and Jaelen Hull (4.98) have posted a majority of the Braves' starts in the circle. Spinas-Valainis has had the best production with eight wins and 14 complete games in 161.2 innings with 82 strikeouts, as Hull holds a 4-10 record with 47 strikeouts.

UIC will meet with Bradley for the first time since 2013, when the Flames fell to the Braves, 1-0, in eight innings. The all-time series is split 17-17, while UIC has won the last seven games played at Laura Bradley Park.