CHICAGO -- Following a triumphant home opener on Tuesday afternoon, the UIC Flames are right back out on the road this weekend as they travel to Atlanta, Ga., where they will play Georgia Tech in a three-game series at Russ Chandler Stadium. The set begins on Friday, March 2 at 3 p.m. CT and continues with single games on Saturday (1 p.m.) and Sunday (noon) afternoons.

All three games will be streamed on ACC Extra. Please visit the schedule page on UICFlames.com for direct links to help catch every pitch. More statistics, news and notes about the Flames can be found in the UIC Game Notes (PDF) that is linked in the blue box.

DOUBLE UP

• UIC ranks 10^th in the NCAA with 23 total doubles and 11^th with 2.88 doubles per game through Feb. 28.
• The Flames lineup boasts five players with multiple two-base hits. Scott Ota and Aaron Ackerman lead the club with five doubles each and the pair is tied for 11^th nationally in that category at this time.
• Senior Bowen Ogata also ranks in the top 50 in the NCAA - 45^th - with four doubles.
• UIC has registered a season-high four doubles in a game twice this season, most recently in a 14-3 victory at UTRGV on Feb. 24. Ota doubled twice in that game, while Ackerman and David Becker also tallied two-base hits.
• The Flames had three doubles - Ota, Becker, Matt Bottcher - in their last game against Roosevelt on Tuesday.

SACRIFICIAL FLAMES

• Not only is UIC exhibiting a bit of pop in the early going, but it has also shown the ability to manufacture a run when necessary. The Flames lead the Horizon League and rank seventh in the NCAA with eight sacrifice bunts through eight games.
• UIC freshman Ryan Lin-Peistrup is tied for third in the NCAA with four sacrifice bunts, half the team's total entering the weekend. He is fifth nationally with 0.50 sacrifice bunts per game.
• Four other Flames - Scott Ota, Derrick Patrick, David Becker and Matt Bottcher -  each have one sacrifice bunt.
• UIC is first in the Horizon League, and 36^th nationally, with five sacrifice flies. Ota, Becker, Bowen Ogata, Aaron Ackerman and Dylan Gilbert have each driven in a run via the sac fly this season.

SCOTT'S RED HOT

• UIC junior Scott Ota is swinging a hot bat with a line of .531/.556/.844 through eight games. His batting average ranks 18^th in the NCAA entering the weekend.
• He owns 27 total bases on the season to rank 23^rd nationally, and he is pacing the Flames with 11 RBI.
• In the team's last three games, Ota has 10 hits in 15 at-bats, including four doubles with six RBI.
• The Foster City, Calif., native had a career-high four hits with two doubles at UTRGV on Feb. 24.
• Ota ranks 10^th in the NCAA through Feb. 28 with 17 hits and 11^th with five doubles. He's also one of the toughest in the country to strike out, fanning only twice in 2018 in 32 at-bats.
• The right fielder was named Horizon League Batter of the Week on Feb. 19 after batting .429 and slugging .857 with three extra-base hits, five RBI and five runs scored at the Andre Dawson Classic, helping UIC go 3-1 in New Orleans.

CHUCKING IT

• UIC junior Charlie Cerny has been difficult for opponents to handle out of the bullpen.
• He leads the Flames and is tied for the NCAA lead with six appearances, while striking out 17 hitters in 9.1 IP without issuing a base on balls. He has a 0.96 ERA, allowing one earned run to date.
• Cerny ranked second on the squad with 23 relief apperances in 2017.
• This year he threw a season-high 2.2 scoreless IP with seven punch outs against Prairie View A&M in a three-run win for the Flames on Feb. 18 at the Andre Dawson Classic.
• In his last outing, Cerny struck out the side and preserved a one-run lead in UIC's home opener on Tuesday night against Roosevelt.

SOUP'S ON

• After coming out of the bullpen in 14 of his 16 appearances in 2017, senior Ryan Campbell has shifted to the starting rotation on a full-time basis.
• In two 2018 starts, Campbell has yet to allow a run in 14.0 IP while striking out 13 and walking only two.
• On Feb. 16, Campbell stifled Southern over 7.0 shutout innings, allowing just three hits with five strikeouts. For that effort he was named Horizon League Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 19.
• In his second start at UTRGV on Feb. 24, Campbell went 7.0 scoreless once again, this time with a career-high eight strikeouts.
• Opponents are batting .174 against the Carmel, Ind., native, which is the lowest mark for any member of the Flames staff, and the eighth best in the Horizon League.
• Campbell and teammate Joey Fredrickson lead the conference with two wins apiece on the mound.

K-KINGS

• UIC's pitching staff ranks 12^th in the NCAA with 11.1 strikeouts per 9.0 IP this season. The Flames' 88 strikeouts through eight games are 22 more than the next closest team in its conference (Oakland).
• The top four pitchers on the Horizon League leader board for strikeouts are all Flames. Jacob Key leads the conference with 20 and he is followed by Charlie Cerny (17), Reid Birlingmair (15) and Ryan Campbell (13).
• Key also leads the League with nine strikeouts looking. Campbell is tied for fifth on that list with four, and Cerny is tied for seventh with three.

FEELING A DRAFT

• The Flames had six players selected in the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft in June. That was the most in program history, and the most from any Horizon League squad in a single season.
• Two UIC standouts were taken on the second day. Connor Ryan was the first Flame off the board, going to Cincinnati in the eighth round. In the 10^th round the San Francisco Giants chose catcher, and Horizon League Player of the Year, Rob Calabrese.
• On the final day of the draft, Mickey McDonald (Oakland, 18^th round), David Cronin (Chicago White Sox, 20^th round), Jake Dahlberg (St. Louis, 21^st round) and Cody Bohanek (Houston, 30^th round) were chosen to join the professional ranks.
• Later last summer, Mitchell Schulewitz inked a contract with the Kansas City Royals, while two others, Ricardo Ramirez (Traverse City Beach Bums) and Jack Andersen (Windy City Thunderbolts) joined independent clubs.

PITCHING PROBABLES (UIC vs. Georgia Tech)

• Friday, March 2: RHP Reid Birlingmair (1-0, 1.38 ERA) vs. RHP Xzavion Curry (2-0, 1.50 ERA)
• Saturday, March 3: RHP Ryan Campbell (2-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Brant Hunter (0-0, 10.12 ERA)
• Sunday, March 4: RHP Jacob Key (0-1, 2.08 ERA) vs. LHP Connor Thomas (2-0, 0.56 ERA)