CHICAGO – The UIC softball team (18-17, 5-1 HL) will head out to Ohio for its first conference road series of the season this weekend against Youngstown State (16-19, 4-2 HL). Originally scheduled to get underway Friday, the Flames and Penguins will now open play with a doubleheader Saturday at 2 p.m. CT prior to a single game Sunday at 11 a.m. at the YSU Softball Complex.

LAST TIME OUT
UIC will be one week removed from game action as it last face Detroit Mercy (March 31-April 1) at Flames Field. The Flames claimed the series, 2-1, after taking the opener, 9-3, and then the finale, 6-1. The team scored 19 runs in the series after outhitting the Titans, 26-23 and drawing 13 walks.
 
Lexi Watts and Skylee James led UIC at the plate as they each put up six hits. James and Jennah Speth, who added four hits, brought in the most runs with four RBI apiece. Karissa Frazier was outstanding in the circle, going 1-0 with one save and not earning a single run in 9.0 innings to aid in being named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week.

SCOUTING THE FLAMES
Collectively on the year, the Flames are hitting .281 and are paced by the league-leading average of .423 from Watts, who also has the highest conference mark of 47 hits and 14 stolen bases. Speth (.393), Savannah Soppet (.309), Taylor Cairns (.267), Kayla Wedl (.260) and Tiana Mack-Miller (.255) have also been aiding the offense, as Jasmine Willis (.250) and Speth have knocked in the most runs with 19 and 18 RBI, respectively.
 
Through six conference games, UIC sits atop the Horizon League with a .354 batting average as four players are hitting above .400 in Watts (.550), James (.545), Speth (.471) and Willis (.429). As Watts leads in hits with 11, Speth has racked up the league's top slugging percentage of 1.059 off one double and three home runs, as she also leads the team alongside Willis with 10 RBI.
 
The Flames' pitchers have been dominant all season long as they have put together a conference-best 2.88 earned-run average and .241 opposing batting average. Frazier (1.94 ERA), Allie Trudeau (2.86 ERA) and Elaine Heflin (3.08 ERA) have split all but one start as they each own at least five wins and have been key contributors to the team's 151 strikeouts.
 
Against Horizon League opponents, UIC has tallied the second-best ERA of 1.84 while it has limited foes to the lowest opposing average of .235. Frazier (0.89 ERA) and Trudeau (0.98 ERA) rank as the top two pitchers in the conference after combining for all but eight innings, as Trudeau has a team-best three wins and owns 15 of the team's 29 strikeouts.

SCOUTING THE PENGUINS
Following a pair of non-conference wins at Niagara, Youngstown State returns to conference play where it is 4-2 after sweeping Oakland, 3-0, and going 1-2 against Valparaiso. Prior to dropping the final two games against the Crusaders, the Penguins had won nine straight, with all but one at home, as they outscored opponents, 54-8.
 
The YSU offense is hitting .246 this season with Hannah Lucas (.316) and Cali Mikovich (.301) at the top of the lineup as they have combined for 59 hits. The Penguins rank second in the league standings in home runs with 21, led by the bats of Maria Lacatena (.240) with seven and Sarah Dowd (.184) with five, as the pair also lead in RBI with 19 from Dowd and 16 from Lacatena.
 
Conference play has presented YSU with a .345 batting average, led by Tatum Christy (.700), Alexandria Gibson (.538) and Lucas (.458). Lucas owns a team-best 11 hits while Christy, the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, leads in RBI with six.
 
Maddi Lusk (2.20 ERA) has been the go-to pitcher for the Penguins this season as she is 10-8 with four shutouts and 14 complete games in 20 starts and a league-leading 93 strikeouts in 124.1 innings. The team collectively holds a 2.88 ERA with 128 Ks as opponents are hitting .266 with Paige Geanangel (3.20 ERA) and Caitlyn Minney (3.89 ERA) contributing to the totals.
 
The pitching staff has been more productive against conference foes with a 1.58 ERA and opposing average of .245. Lusk (1.04 ERA) is 3-1 after tossing 27.0 innings and striking out 18, as Geanangel (3.50 ERA) owns the additional win in 10 innings pitched.

ALL-TIME SERIES
UIC owns a record of 35-18 in the all-time series with YSU after the teams split a doubleheader last season in Youngstown.