CHICAGO -- UIC will put a bow on its 2017 home slate, at least for the regular season, when it hosts Wright State in a doubleheader that pits the Horizon League's top two teams against one another at Granderson Stadium on Saturday, May 13 beginning at 12:05 p.m. CT.

The Flames (32-12, 18-5) and Raiders (33-15, 18-5) enter the second-to-last weekend of the regular season with 18 wins apiece in conference play and they will meet five times over an eight-day span to cap the slate. The two teams are battling it out for the regular season crown and the right to host the Horizon League Championship later this month. Neither club can finish lower than second place in the standings. WSU's weekend actually begins on Friday, May 12 with a scheduled twinbill in Milwaukee. The first game of that set is at 12 p.m. Friday. UIC will play a pair of games at Valparaiso's Emory G. Bauer Field on Sunday.

As Saturday is the final home date of the regular season, the Flames and head coach Mike Dee will honor and thank the seven seniors on the roster for their tremendous contributions to UIC Baseball in a postgame ceremony. The group includes starting pitchers Jack Andersen and Jake Dahlberg, relievers Connor Ryan and Mitchell Schulewitz, infielders Cody Bohanek and Ricardo Ramirez and utility man Brandon Gibis.

More news and notes about the Flames as they head into the weekend against Wright State and Valparaiso can be found below:

BEST OF THE BEST

• The 2017 Flames (32-12) became the fastest team to reach 30 wins in program history with a 1-0 walk-off win over Georgia Tech on April 28.
• The team beat the old record by one game. The 2002 squad won for the 30^th time in its 41^st game.
• The 2002 and 2003 teams share the program record for wins in a season (39).
• UIC has won at least 30 games a total of 13 times in program history and 10 times under head coach Mike Dee, including this campaign.
• Before this season, the program last won at least 30 games in 2008 (35). That season ended a streak of eight consecutive seasons with at least 32 victories.

PITCHING PROWESS

• The Flames rank third in the NCAA with an earned-run average of 2.62 through May 10 behind Oregon State and Louisville.
• The lowest single-season ERA in program history belongs to the 2003 staff, which finished that year with a mark of 3.19.
• The team WHIP (walks + hits per inning pitched) of 1.12 is second only to the nation's top two ranked teams Oregon State (0.97) and Louisville (1.11).
• As a staff, UIC has pitched eight shutouts, most recently vs. Georgia Tech on April 28(1-0). That ranks the Flames tied for fifth in the NCAA.
• The Flames own two of the top-three qualifying ERA's in the Horizon League in all games, and four of the top nine.
• Jake Dahlberg is second (1.96), Jacob Key is third (1.98), Reid Birlingmair is sixth (2.93), and Jack Andersen is ninth (3.62).
• Reliever Alex Padilla boasts a 0.58 ERA (2 ER/31.0 IP) out of the bullpen and a team-high five saves. He has not allowed a run in 11 Horizon League outings with 14 strikeouts in 18.1 IP.

DEFENSIVE DANDIES

• UIC leads not only the Horizon League, but the entire NCAA with a fielding percentage of .985 through May 10. The team's 26 errors entering the weekend are the fewest in the country.
• The Flames boast a fielding percentage of .988 through 23 Horizon League games. They have been charged with 11 errors (0.48 per game).
• Shortstop Cody Bohanek leads the Horizon League in assists with 149, while second baseman David Cronin ranks second with 148. The next closest player, YSU's Shane Willoughby, owns 126.
• The team's average of 1.0 double play turned per contest ranks 18th in the NCAA at this time. The Flames have turned 44 double plays this season, the 35^th-most total in the country.

DAHLBERG KEEPS DEALING

• Senior Jake Dahlberg matched a career high with his eighth win of the season last time out against Oakland. It was his 22nd victory in a UIC uniform, which ranks fifth on the program's all-time list.
• He ranks prominently among the national leaders in several statistical categories including: hits allowed per 9 (5th; 4.96), WHIP (9th; 0.83) and ERA (30th; 1.96).
• Opponents are hitting .161 against Dahlberg in 12 starts and he is the only Horizon League pitcher with a mark below .200.
• The left-hander leads UIC with 65 strikeouts and he enters Saturday needing one more to become the fifth pitcher in program history with 200.

CALABRESE KEEPS CRUSHING

• Junior Rob Calabrese has hit safely in a career-high 13 games, tying him with David Cronin for the longest streak on the the team this spring. Calabrese is slashing .468/.534/.681 during the streak with 10 doubles, 14 RBI and 13 runs.
• The catcher has reached base safely in 39 consecutive games. That is the longest streak for any UIC player since Justin Johnson's to conclude the 2006 season.
• Calabrese is batting a League-best .409 in conference games. He has 13 doubles in HL games to lead all players and 36 hits to rank third.
• The Staten Island, N.Y., native leads the Horizon League and ranks ninth in the NCAA with 20 doubles. He leads UIC and is tied for the conference's lead with 43 RBI.

LAUNCHING THE LONG BALL

• Six different UIC hitters, who are in at least their second season with the Flames, have set a career high in the home run category this spring.
• UIC's 35 team home runs are the most since clubbing 49 in 2010. That was the final season before the introduction of the Bat-Ball Coefficient of Restitution (BBCOR).
• Ricardo Ramirez leads the team and is tied for seventh in the Horizon League with nine home runs in 2017. That is the most since Jeff Boehm's 14 in 2015. His last home run was an inside-the-park shot against Milwaukee on May 6 (2).
• Rob Calabrese ranks second on the squad with six home runs and his increase of +4 is the largest of anyone on the roster. Calabrese also leads the Flames and is tied for the conference's lead with 43 RBI.
• Cody Bohanek is tied for third with five home runs and has an increase of +3.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
UIC FLAMES vs. WRIGHT STATE RAIDERS
Game 1:  LHP Jake Dahlberg (8-1, 1.96 ERA) vs.TBA
Game 2:  RHP Reid Birlingmair (5-3, 2.93 ERA) vs.TBA

UIC FLAMES at VALPARAISO CRUSADERS
Game 1:  RHP Jack Andersen (3-2, 3.62 ERA) vs. RHP Grant Inman (4-5, 6.06 ERA)
Game 2:  RHP Jacob Key (6-0, 1.98 ERA) vs. RHP Ellis Foreman (2-2, 3.98 ERA)

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