June 15, 2015 The 2015-16 academic year begins in 70 days and UICFlames.com counts down the Top 25 Flames over the summer months (June 8-July 31). Each sport will be featured over eight weeks as we preview the upcoming year in UIC Athletics.

In this installment of `Top 25 Flames for 2015-16', we will look at softball's starting pitcher, junior Elaine Heflin. Heflin became the eighth player in program history to be named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year as she additionally earned a spot on the All-League First Team and NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Third Team after a year that ended with a 12-12 record and 2.54 ERA.

The two-time Horizon League Pitcher of the Week made 34 appearances and 23 starts, tossed 17 complete games, recorded two shutouts, picked up three saves and held opponents to a .266 batting average. After pitching 170.2 innings, Heflin set the top mark in the Horizon League with 134 strikeouts.

Heflin was a key contributor in claiming UIC's 14th Horizon League Regular Season Championship as the Flames went 14-6 during the conference season to tie Oakland for a share of the title. Heflin dominated in the circle with a 10-3 record and 1.91 ERA to aid in six series wins and she topped the conference stats with most strikeouts (84), wins (10), saves (3) and appearances (18).

At the conclusion of the Horizon League Championship, Heflin was named to the All-Tournament team after she pitched all 24 innings of UIC's three games with 18 strikeouts and a 1.17 ERA. In game three of the tournament against Oakland, Heflin struck out a career-high nine batters.

Heflin and the Flames will look to build off a year that produced a 24-22 (.522) record, the team's best winning percentage since 2005 (.597), and another feat from Heflin, as her 2.54 ERA was the best for a pitcher since 2011 when Devin Miller tabbed a 2.50 average.

TOP 25 FLAMES
June 8 - Jake Dahlberg
June 10 - Stephenee Yancy
June 12 - Thomas Villamil