CHICAGO - The UIC softball team (23-20, 14-6 HL) walked away from a doubleheader split against Cleveland State (23-27, 8-12 HL) on Saturday with a share of the 2015 Horizon League regular season crown. The 8-7 game one win and 3-2 (8) series finale loss gave the Flames a 14-6 record, which tied with Oakland to top the conference.

This year's championship marks the 14th in program history for UIC after most recently claiming the hardware in 2013. With the tie, Oakland will be awarded hosting duties for the Horizon League Tournament, set for May 6-9, as it owns the tiebreaker after a 2-1 series win against the Flames.

"We are so proud of our team for playing hard and coming away with a share of the conference title," head coach Michelle Venturella said. "We are excited for the next chapter this season and for the opportunity to win another championship for UIC."

On a day where UIC honored its four seniors in Erica Hampton, Amanda Mener, Paige Peterson and Eleni Polites, the Flames produced a total of 18 hits in a pair of battles with the Vikings. Tiana Mack-Miller led all players with a .600 average after going 3-for-5 with three walks, as Laura Swan (4-for-8) and Savannah Soppet (3-for-6) each batted .500.

UIC 8, Cleveland State 7   Box Score 

UIC worked to take a 5-2 advantage after the first inning and it never gave up its lead to come away with the 8-7 win. Mack-Miller (2), Swan (2) and Taylor Cairns (2) had multi-hit outings to contribute to the Flames' nine tallies, with Swan and Cairns coming up with three RBI each.

Bridget Boyle threw a full four innings to earn her seventh win of the season after allowing six hits and walking seven. Elaine Heflin came on with the bases loaded in the fifth and earned zero runs while striking out three and giving up two hits to garner her third save of the year and fifth of her career.

For the second-straight game, Cleveland State scored two in the first inning as the Vikings loaded the bases on walks and Alyson Broschk hit a two-RBI single.

UIC came out to go ahead 5-2 in the bottom of the inning. Eleni Polites reached on an error, Mack-Miller singled and then Swan hit a three-run bomb, her fourth of the year, over the left field wall. The Flames loaded up the bases as Mener singled, Peterson walked and Hampton singled to set up Cairns, who singled to left center to bring two across the plate.

Cleveland State loaded the bases in the third with a leadoff single and back-to-back intentional walks to set up Broschk for an RBI single. The next batter reached on a UIC error as the runner at third came across the plate.

Another run was put on the board for the Flames in the bottom of the third as Soppet singled and Cairns tripled for the third time this season down the right-field line.

After UIC turned a double play with the bases loaded to end top four, the Flames claimed two runs in their next round at bat. Swan singled to lead off and was called safe on Mener's fielder's choice as the Vikings committed an error. Peterson then reached on CSU's second-straight error that scored Swan before Hampton hit a sacrifice fly to plate Mener.

The Vikings brought the score within one as they scored three in the fifth off a groundout and a two-RBI single from Nena Doran, but the Flames held them at bay the remainder of the game.

Cleveland State 3, UIC 2 (8)   Box Score 

UIC had to come back from a deficit for the third-straight game as it eventually tied the score at 2-2, but Cleveland State would prevail with a solo home run in the eighth to pick up the series finale win. Of the Flames' nine hits, six came on behalf of Swan, Peterson and Soppet with two apiece, while Mener had two RBI off one hit in the game.

Heflin went the full eight innings in the circle for her 14th complete game of the year. She struck out seven and walked five while giving up seven hits and earning all three runs.

Cleveland State scored a pair in the top of the second after two were walked and each advanced a base to allow Hannah Yoe to hit a two-RBI single.

UIC brought its first run across in the third after Mack-Miller and Swan got on with a walk and single, respectively, and Mener singled to bring in Mack-Miller.

After getting out of a jam in the top half, the Flames evened the score in the bottom of the fifth. Mack-Miller and Swan led off the frame with a pair of singles and advanced on a wild pitch. With one out, Mener grounded out which allowed Mack-Miller to cross the plate.

With a scoreless sixth and seventh, UIC went to extras with Cleveland State. Power hitter Cynthia Woodard led off for the Vikings in the eighth and hit a solo home run off the scoreboard in left center for the 3-2 advantage. CSU then loaded the bases and left them that way on a trio of singles.

UIC was not able to respond in its final attempt as it left one on following its sixth walk of the game. In total, the Flames left 11 runners on base, with the Vikings stranding nine.

With the close of the regular season, UIC will now await seeding for the Horizon League Tournament, scheduled to run May 6-9 in Rochester, Mich.