CHICAGO – The UIC softball team (13-13, 2-1 HL) will return to Horizon League action this weekend, facing Oakland (6-16) in its home opener at Flames Field. The Flames and Golden Grizzlies will play a doubleheader on Friday, March 30 at 4 p.m. CT and a single game on Saturday, March 31 at 1 p.m.

Prior to the start of Friday's game, the 2017 Horizon League Championship team will be presented with its championship rings in celebration of last season's conference title.

LAST TIME OUT
UIC is looking to bounce back from a pair of tough losses this week after falling 13-2 at Northern Illinois in five innings on Tuesday (March 27) and taking a 1-0 loss to city-foe Loyola on Wednesday (March 28). The Huskies put up nine innings in their first at bat and outhit the Flames 12-8, as the Ramblers held UIC to just five hits across all seven innings.

SCOUTING THE FLAMES
The Flames are one of three teams in the Horizon League that won their first Horizon League series last weekend, as Wright State and IUPUI also posted a 2-1 mark in their first taste of conference action. UIC is batting .239 as a team heading into this weekend, with 160 hits (24 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR). The Flames lead the League with 56 bases stolen, and average 2.12 steals per game, which is good for 11th in the nation. Additionally, UIC's 160 hits puts them in a tie for second in the Horizon League.

Lexi Watts owns the top batting average on the Flames at .410. Watts also leads UIC in hits (34), and triples (2), and her 20 stolen bases this season not leads not only the Flames, but ranks 11th in the nation. Horizon League Player of the Week Kayla Wedl follows Watts with 21 hits, and is followed closely by Taylor Cairns with 20. Alyssa Griman has the second-highest batting average on the squad at .279 with 19 hits, while Skylee James heads the RBI category for UIC with 15.

UIC remains at the top of the Horizon League in pitching, with a conference-low 3.50 ERA. The Flames have also dealt the most strikeouts with 99, and have held opponents to a .260 average, the lowest in the conference. Allie Trudeau (2.53 ERA) and Marley Hanlon (2.65 ERA) rank third and fourth, respectively, amongst Horizon League pitchers, while Trudeau has the second-most strikeouts in the League with 52. Karissa Frazier owns a 4.10 ERA with 33 strikeouts, and Jennah Speth has an ERA of 10.89 in four appearances to round out the Flames' pitching staff.

SCOUTING OAKLAND
Oakland has yet to begin Horizon League play, after its series with Northern Kentucky last weekend (March 23-24) was postponed. The Golden Grizzlies last battled with Toledo in a doubleheader on Wednesday, and were dealt a pair of losses, 1-0 and 2-1.

Madison Jones leads Oakland's offense with a .375 batting average, and leads the team in hits (24) as well as RBI (16). Brittany Miller is the next most productive hitter, batting .258 with 15 hits. Cammie Brummitt matches Miller's 15 hits, but also owns the second-most RBI with 12.

Oakland's pitching staff collectively claims an ERA of 6.12 and allows batters a .289 average. Haley Zemmer (5.30 ERA) has made 11 of the team's starts, and has allowed 59 hits across her 52.2 innings pitched. Hayle Bartholomew (3.24 ERA), Chelsea Wiggins (7.01 ERA) and Kayla Marburger (5.91 ERA) make up the remaining 11 starts, and have allowed a combined 77 hits.

ALL-TIME SERIES
UIC has a commanding 11-4 all-time series advantage over Oakland after sweeping the Golden Grizzlies 3-0 in the final regular-season series last season.