TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Another member of the UIC baseball program has joined the ranks of professional baseball as graduated senior Ricardo Ramirez has signed a contract with the Traverse City Beach Bums of the Frontier League on Tuesday, June 20.
 
Ramirez was a key contributor on a team that matched the school record with 39 wins in 2017. He batted .281 and ranked second on the team with a slugging percentage of .492. The Chicago, Ill., native bashed a team-high nine home runs this spring with 15 doubled and 40 RBI. Ramirez tallied a career bests in hits (56), walks (33), and runs (36), all while starting all 56 games for UIC. His batting average, slugging and on-base percentages were also the highest in his four-year tenure with the Flames.
 
In his last two seasons at UIC, Ramirez batted .277 with 109 hits, 32 doubles, two triples and 15 home runs. He drove in 83 runs and scored 68 more while starting all 108 games that he played in.
 
Strong at the plate, Ramirez was no slouch in the field either. His fielding percentage, .996, ranked second on the team and third in the Horizon League. He tied second baseman David Cronin for the most double plays in the conference (46) and ranked second in both chances (541) and putouts (515). On Monday, June 19, Ramirez was named one of four finalists for the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Rawlings 2017 Gold Glove at first base.
 
Ramirez joins the Traverse City Beach Bums of the independent Frontier League. The Bums, 15-18 on the season, are in the East Division, which also features three local teams: the Schaumburg Boomers, Windy City Thunderbolts and Joliet Slammers. The Bums have been part of the Frontier League since the 2006 season and the squad won the Frontier League Championship series in 2015.
 
The De La Salle Institute product will join the Beach Bums immediately. Ramirez will be in Traverse City this evening when his club hosts the Slammers at 7:05 p.m. ET/6:05 p.m. CT. For more information, please visit TraverseCityBeachBums.com.
 
Ramirez is the seventh member of the 2017 Flames to continue playing at the professional level after the team's historic campaign ended earlier this month. That is the most ever in one season for UIC. For more on the six players chosen in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, please click here.