INDIANAPOLIS – Headlined by Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Ryan Campbell and Relief Pitcher of the Year Charlie Cerny, it was announced on Tuesday, May 22, that five UIC Flames have earned postseason honors as selected by the conference's six head coaches.

Campbell, as a starting pitcher, and Cerny, as a reliever, are joined on the All-Horizon League First Team by catcher Aaron Ackerman. Another starting pitcher, Jacob Key, earned a spot on the All-Horizon League Second Team and shortstop Ryan Lin-Peistrup was voted on to the conference's All-Freshman Team.
 
After primarily working as a reliever on the 2017 Horizon League Championship team, Campbell shifted to the starting rotation and paced the Flames with seven wins on the bump in 2018, including four in eight Horizon League starts. The Carmel, Ind., native owns a 1.69 earned-run average (ERA), which ranks second in the conference and 14^th in the NCAA among those who qualify with a minimum of 1.0 inning pitched (IP) per team game played.

The two-time Horizon League Pitcher of the Week is tied for sixth in the nation with four complete games this spring. He went the distance in back-to-back starts at Georgia Tech (March 3) and against Chicago State (March 10) before pulling off the feat a second time versus Milwaukee (April 28-1) and at Wright State (May 4). Campbell has produced a quality start (at least 6.0 IP with fewer than 3 ER allowed) in 10 of his 12 outings overall and in six of eight games against Horizon League foes, including every team at least once.

Campbell leads the Flames and ranks third in the League in innings pitched at 85.0. The two pitchers ahead of him at the conference level, Wright State's Ryan Weiss (87.2) and Milwaukee's Austin Schulfer (86.1), made at least one more start than the senior from UIC. He, Campbell, has produced 63 strikeouts on the year, while walking only 19. Opponents are batting .235 against him.

Arguably Campbell's most memorable start for the Flames came in the first game of a doubleheader against Milwaukee on April 28. He fired a complete-game shutout against the Panthers, scattered four hits, struck out seven and did not issue a walk in what would be the first game of a three-game sweep that featured three shutouts.

This is the second consecutive season, and the seventh time in program history, that a member of the UIC staff has been named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year. Campbell's former teammate Jake Dahlberg is the conference's only two-time Pitcher of the Year (2015 and 2017). Previous conference Pitcher of the Year honorees for the Flames also include Jon Piazza (1994), Jason Henry (1997), Zach Peterson (2007) and Adam Worthington (2009).
 
Cerny, who has split time between the bullpen and starting rotation this season, has been dominant in both spots. The right-hander leads the Horizon League and ranks third in the entire country with a 1.27 ERA and his WHIP (walks + hits per inning pitcher) is the NCAA's second-best at the end of the regular season with a mark of 0.74. Cerny is currently fifth in the nation by allowing only 5.07 hits per 9.0 IP.

The Bloomington, Ill., native is tied for second on the Flames with 20 appearances this spring. Opponents are batting .165 against him and he owns a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.1 in 49.2 IP, which ranks 29^th in the NCAA. Cerny has surrendered only 28 hits with only four going for extra bases (three doubles and one triple).

Cerny has made 14 consecutive scoreless relief appearances since Feb. 18 against Prairie View A&M. As a reliever he is 3-1 with a 0.40 ERA and one save in 22.2 IP over 16 appearances in 2018. He's allowed one earned run, which came on Feb. 16, and fanned 31 hitters while walking just four out of the bullpen. Adversaries are batting .158 against Cerny in relief. He has inherited 14 runners and only three have scored (21.4 percent). All three came in the same game at UTRGV back on Feb. 25.

The only Horizon League player to win three weekly awards this season has made four starts for the Flames since April 21 at Northern Kentucky. Cerny has allowed only six earned runs and 16 hits in that span with 24 strikeouts and five walks. UIC has won three of the four games. In perhaps his most sensational start, Cerny threw his first career complete game shutout to blank Milwaukee in the second game of a doubleheader on April 28. He struck out eight, a career high at the time, served up just three hits and did not allow a base on balls.

Cerny is the third consecutive UIC pitcher to win Relief Pitcher of the Year honors following Trevor Lane (2016) and Alex Padilla (2017). David Cales was the first member of the program to win the award in 2007. Cales' ERA that season of 0.74 is the lowest single-season mark in program history.
 
Catcher Aaron Ackerman was also selected to the All-Horizon League First Team in his first season as a member of the Flames. The reliable backstop made 40 starts behind the dish during the regular season and slashed .288/.347/.438 with a team-high 11 doubles, four home runs and 24 RBI. His 11 doubles are tied for seventh in the conference. Ackerman produced a team-high 15 multi-hit games in 2018, while driving in two runs or more five times. The San Ramon, Calif., native enters this week's Horizon League Championship with UIC's longest active hitting streak at six games.

Defensively, Ackerman threw out 45.2 percent (19-of-42) of would-be base stealers and his 19 runners caught stealing led the Horizon League. He has served as the primary catcher this season for a pitching staff that ranks fourth in the NCAA in ERA (2.85) and is tied for fourth with seven shutouts.
 
Sophomore Jacob Key represents the Flames on the All-Horizon League Second Team. The right-hander leads UIC and ranks sixth in the Horizon League with 69 strikeouts in 69.0 IP. He has caught 45 percent (31-of-69) of his victims looking at strike three and is second in the conference in that category. Key made 11 starts and 12 appearances during the regular season, posting a 3.39 ERA. He earned four wins, including one against ACC foe Georgia Tech and three against Horizon League opponents. Last season Key was named to the All-Freshman Team.

Newcomer Ryan Lin-Peistrup was named to this season's Horizon League All-Freshman Team. The Wildwood, Ill., native batted .226 during the regular season with four doubles and 12 RBI. Lin-Peistrup leads UIC and the Horizon League with eight sacrifice bunts. His average of 0.19 sacrifices per game ranks 67^th in the country. He has appeared in 42 of the team's 44 games with starts in 41 contests.

The Flames have finished in the conference's top two for the 16^th time in 20 seasons under head coach Mike Dee. Second-seeded UIC will begin the 2018 Horizon League Baseball Championship in Fairborn, Ohio, on Thursday, May 24 at 2 p.m. CT. The Flames, who have a first-round bye, will face the highest remaining seed between No. 3 Milwaukee, No. 4 Oakland and No. 5 Youngstown State at Nischwitz Stadium on the campus of Wright State. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

A complete list of 2018 Horizon League award winners and All-Conference selections is below:

Player of the Year: Gabe Snyder (R-Sr.), Wright State
Pitcher of the Year: Ryan Campbell (Sr.), UIC
Relief Pitcher of the Year: Charlie Cerny (Jr.), UIC
Freshman of the Year: Griffin Doersching (Fr.), Northern Kentucky
Coach of the Year: Jeff Mercer, Wright State
 
All-League First Team
C: Aaron Ackerman (R-So.), UIC
1B: Gabe Snyder (R-Sr.), Wright State
2B: Matt Morrow (Sr.), Wright State
3B: Ben Chally (Sr.), Milwaukee
SS: Chase Slone (Jr.), Wright State
LF: Will Haueter (R-Jr.), Northern Kentucky
CF: Trey Bridis (Sr.), Youngstown State
RF: Peyton Burdick (R-So.), Wright State
DH: Griffin Doersching (Fr.), Northern Kentucky
SP: Austin Schulfer (Sr.), Milwaukee
SP: Ryan Campbell (Sr.), UIC
SP: Ryan Weiss (R-So.), Wright State
RP: Charlie Cerny (Jr.), UIC
 
All-League Second Team
C: Tyler Bordner (Jr.), Milwaukee
1B: Chad Roberts (Sr.), Northern Kentucky
2B: Trevor Schwecke (So.), Milwaukee
3B: Seth Gray (So.), Wright State
SS: Jeff Wehler (Fr.), Youngstown State
LF: JD Orr (Jr.), Wright State
CF: Devin Rybacki (R-Jr.), Milwaukee
RF: Blaze Glenn (So.), Youngstown State
DH: Zane Harris (R-Fr.), Wright State
SP: Jake Lee (R-Sr.), Oakland
SP: Jacob Key (So.), UIC
SP: Collin Floyd (Jr.), Youngstown State
RP: Derek Hendrixson (R-Sr.), Wright State
 
All-Freshman Team (alphabetical by school; ties not broken)
Zach Nogalski, Milwaukee
Patrick Tomfohrde, Milwaukee
Andrew Bacon, Northern Kentucky
Griffin Doersching, Northern Kentucky
Collin Hohman, Northern Kentucky
Mario Camilletti, Oakland
Ryan Lin-Peistrup, UIC
Quincy Hamilton, Wright State
Zane Harris, Wright State
Jakob Brustoski, Youngstown State
Nick LaBrasca, Youngstown State
Lucas Nasonti, Youngstown State
Jeff Wehler, Youngstown State