CHICAGO -- After spending the first two weekends of conference play at Granderson Stadium, the UIC Flames are hitting the road this weekend for a three-game series at Youngstown State. The Flames and Penguins will play a doubleheader on Friday, March 30 before finishing the set with a single game on Saturday, March 31. Play will start both days at Eastwood Field at 12 p.m. CT.

UIC (15-7, 4-2 Horizon League) begins the weekend tied atop the conference standings alongside Wright State. Both teams took two-of-three at home in both Horizon League series they have played. Youngstown State (5-17, 3-3 Horizon League) dropped two-of three against Milwaukee, March 17-18, before bouncing back to win a series at home against Northern Kentucky last weekend.

While the Flames have been off to a slow start offensively in League play, the pitching has been on point over the last two weekends. UIC has posted a staff ERA of 2.13 with 58 strikeouts in 55 innings of work. Reid Birlingmair and Charlie Cerny have each registered two wins, with Cerny's victories coming from the bullpen.Neither pitcher has yet to allow a run against Horizon League opponents in a combined 20.1 IP. Birlingmair leads the Flames with 18 strikeouts in conference play, while he has allowed only two walks.

The bats have been slow to come around as the club is batting only .207 and averaging just 3.8 runs per game. A couple of newcomers in the outfield are leading the way as the reigning Horizon League Batter of the Week Dominic Smith is hitting a team-high .389 in six HL games. The junior leads UIC in hits (7), RBI (8) and total bases (12) in the early going. Another fresh face, sophomore Thomas Smart, is the only other Flame hitting better than .300 at .316. He has six hits and has scored three of the team's 23 runs.

Opposite UIC, Youngstown State has seen more consistency at the dish than on the hill. The Penguins are batting .289 as a squad with five individuals hitting .333 or higher. One player below that mark, Andrew Kendrick, is hitting .261 and has a team-best seven RBI.

YSU's pitching staff owns a 5.67 ERA with a 2.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Collin Floyd has been the top pitcher as he has allowed just one earned run over 14.0 IP in two conference wins. He has a team-high 14 strikeouts and foes are batting .167 against the left-handed hurler.

Live stats will be available for all three games. Links can be found on UIC's schedule page.

Probable Starters (UIC vs. YSU)
Game 1: RHP Ryan Campbell (3-1, 1.24 ERA) vs. RHP Greg Dunham (2-3, 6.35 ERA)
Game 2: LHP Jacob Key (1-2, 2.70 ERA) vs. LHP Collin Floyd (2-4, 3.93 ERA)
Game 3: TBA vs. LHP Zach Lopatka (0-3, 7.32 ERA)