CHICAGO – First-year head coach Lynn Curylo announced the UIC softball team's schedule for the upcoming 2017 season Monday. The 56-game slate will take the Flames from coast to coast for tournament play, highlighted by a trip to the 2016 Women's College World Series champion Oklahoma Sooners, before the Horizon League campaign begins on March 24.
 
The season kicks off close to home as UIC will co-host the Total Control Sports Invitational (Feb. 10-12) at the Dome in Rosemont, Ill., for the fourth-straight year alongside Loyola. The team is set to take on IUPUI, Miami (Ohio), Fort Wayne, Western Illinois and Butler.
 
The following weekend the Flames are in Charleston, S.C., for the College of Charleston Tournament (Feb. 17-18) as they will face Monmouth, Lipscomb, Winthrop and Eastern Kentucky. They then head out to California for the Santa Clara Invitational (Feb. 24-26), which will feature games against South Dakota, Weber State, Creighton and the host Broncos.
 
March gets underway in Carbondale, Ill., for the Coach B Classic (March 4-5) hosted by Southern Illinois as UIC will go up against Northern Illinois, Kentucky, Western Illinois and Murray State. The Flames will then take their final long-distance trip of the season to Norman, Okla., for the OU Tournament (March 11-12), where they will compete with Omaha Nebraska and the Sooners.
 
The tournament season wraps up the following weekend in Bloomington, Ind., at the Hoosier Classic (March 17-19) with UIC going head-to-head with Bowling Green and host Indiana. It will then make a stop in Champaign, Ill., on March 21 for a doubleheader against Illinois.
 
The reigning Horizon League regular season champions will open conference play when they welcome Cleveland State (March 24-25) to Flames Field for a three-game series. Following a midweek game in Evanston, Ill., against Northwestern (March 29), the Flames are back at home for a series with Detroit Mercy (March 31-April 1).
 
UIC's next seven games will be played on the road, with a non-conference rivalry tilt first up against Loyola (April 5) in Rogers Park. A trip out to Ohio is next on the slate for three games at Youngstown State (April 7-8). The final away series will be closer to home as the Flames head across the border to Valparaiso (April 11-12).
 
The Flames return home for the next two weeks are they are set to play eight games at Flames Field. A three-game series against Northern Kentucky (April 14-15) will kick off the stint, with Green Bay (April 18-19) coming to town for a midweek series. The last home matches of the season will be against non-conference city foes Loyola (April 25) and DePaul (April 26).
 
The final two series of the regular season will take place on the road, with Wright State (April 28-29) first up before closing out play at Oakland (May 5-6).
 
The Horizon League Championship is set for May 10-13, with the top-seeded team from the regular season scheduled to host and the winner advancing to the NCAA Regionals (May 18-21).