CHICAGO – The UIC softball team (20-15) will take a break from Horizon League action this week, wrapping up its non-conference schedule with a pair of games. The Flames will make their way out to face city foe DePaul (24-13) on Wednesday, April 18 and will return home to Flames field on Wednesday, April 19 to welcome Butler (15-21).  Both games are slotted with a 4 p.m. CT start time.

LAST TIME OUT
The Flames are riding a six-game win streak following a 3-0 sweep of Northern Kentucky. UIC got off to a big start with a pair of 12-4 wins in Friday's (April 13) doubleheader, and closed out the series with a 7-3 win on Saturday (April 14) to complete its second-straight sweep. The Flames outscored the Norse 31-11 in the series, and also posted 40 hits to NKU's 27.

Sophomore Kayla Wedl earned her second Horizon League Player of the Week title of the season following an outstanding performance against the Norse, totaling eight hits and 11 RBI, while batting .800 in the three-game set. She also knocked in her first career grand slam, hit a pair of doubles, drew three walks and ended the series with a 1.300 slugging percentage and a .846 on base percentage.

SCOUTING THE FLAMES
UIC is in first place overall in the Horizon League standings, and is at the top of the conference in several categories. The Flames have an uncontested lead in stolen bases with 72, averaging 2.06 steals per game to rank 15th in the nation. UIC is also second in the League in runs (154), RBI (138), batting average (.276), doubles (44) and home runs (18), and has the third-most hits in the conference at 253.  

Lexi Watts has collected the most hits among Horizon League players at 49, and has swiped the most bases (24) to rank 17th in the nation. Watts has also crossed home plate 32 times, more than any other Horizon League player, and owns the League's second-highest batting average at .422 on the season. Alongside Watts in the top ten hitters in the League are teammates Wedl and Skylee James, sitting in a tie for fourth with 34 hits apiece. James is also number one in RBIs with 37, and her 1.06 per game average puts her at 39th in the nation. Wedl also makes the RBI list in third, bringing in 28 runs on the season.

UIC pitchers boast the second-lowest ERA in the League at 3.58, have allowed the fewest runs (130) and have held batters to the second-lowest batting average in the conference (.268). Marley Hanlon has the second-lowest ERA amongst Horizon League pitchers at 2.55, as Allie Trudeau also makes the top ten in fifth at 3.16. Trudeau holds batters to a .253 average, fourth-lowest in the League, while teammate Karissa Frazier (3.90 ERA) follows closely with a .256 opponent batting average, good for fifth lowest.  Jennah Speth (9.80) completes UIC's rotation, owning a 1-2 record this season across 10 innings of work.

SCOUTING THE BLUE DEMONS
DePaul has faced weather cancellations in its last four scheduled games, having faced Georgetown in its last contest on April 7-8. The Blue Demons and Hoyas squared off in a three-game series, resulting in the first series loss of the season for DePaul. Game one went to Georgetown 8-6, and DePaul retaliated by shutting out the Hoyas in game two, 2-0, but Georgetown went on to take the finale in extra-innings, 5-4 (8).

Kate Polucha heads the Blue Demon offense with a .360 batting average, and also leads the squad in hits (45). Angela Scalzitti bats .333 with a team-high 25 runs, while Megan Leyva has turned in the most RBI with 26. The Blue Demon's pitching staff owns a 2.24 ERA and holds batters to a mere .200 average. DePaul's rotation is led by Missy Zoch's 2.01 ERA and .178 batting average through 97.1 innings of work in 18 appearances. Pat Moore holds batters to a .189 average and owns a 2.18 ERA through 93.0 innings.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Butler also faced Georgetown in its most recent contest, but was able to outlast the Hoyas 2-1 in the series. The Bulldogs dropped the series opener 6-2, but bounced back to take the next two games by final totals of 7-6 and 13-9. Butler will be facing Ball State on Tuesday, April 18 prior to making its trip out to Chicago.

Jenna Forman paces the Bulldogs with a .393 batting average, 48 hits and 21 runs. Alyssa Lach adds to Butler's offensive power with a .295 average, 31 hits, 17 runs and 17 RBI. The Bulldogs' pitching staff is led by Alyssa Graves, with a team-low 2.01 ERA in 22 appearances. Graves holds batters to a .215 average and has allowed 78 hits and 28 earned runs through 97.1 innings. Kaitlin Doud has worked 82.1 innings on the mound, and has an ERA of 3.91 for the Bulldogs.

UP NEXT
UIC will return to Horizon League action for the remainder of the season as they face Green Bay on April 24-25.