CHICAGO -- No. 2 UIC will travel to Fairborn, Ohio, this week to defend its Horizon League Championship at Nischwitz Stadium on the campus of Wright State University. The Flames, after receiving a first-round bye, will begin the double-elimination portion of the tournament on Thursday, May 24 at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT.

UIC (28-16, 15-9 Horizon League) will play the highest remaining seed following Wednesday's first two games, No. 3 Milwaukee. The host and top seed, Wright State, will play the lowest remaining seed, No. 5 Youngstown State in the first game of the day. For a full bracket, and ESPN+ links to every tournament game, please visit the Horizon League Championship Central page.

The Flames and Panthers played only one three-game series this season with the three contests scheduled in Milwaukee wiped out by unsavory weather. UIC swept the series with three shutouts after limiting UWM to nine hits in the series and not issuing a walk in 27.0 innings pitched.

REPEAT AND THREE-PEAT

• A member of the Flames was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season when Ryan Campbell earned the award Tuesday.
• Last season Jake Dahlberg took the honor and became the only two-time Pitcher of the Year in conference history. He is now in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.
• UIC has claimed seven #HLBase Pitcher of the Year Awards. In addition to Campbell and Dahlberg (2015 & 2017), past winners include: Jon Piazza (1994), Jason Henry (1997), Zach Peterson (2007) and Adam Worthington (2009).
• The Flames also won the Relief Pitcher of the Year award for the third straight season as Charlie Cerny collected the nod Tuesday.
• Cerny follows teammate Alex Padilla (2017) and former teammate Trevor Lane (2016) in recent years. Lane is now with the Class AA Trenton Thunder in the New York Yankees organization.
• Cerny has made 20 appearances this season, including four starts.

ALL-LEAGUE LOVE

• UIC placed three players on the All-Horizon League First Team led by starting Pitcher of the Year Ryan Campbell and Relief Pitcher of the Year Charlie Cerny.
• Catcher Aaron Ackerman also made the First Team. He owns a team-high 15 multi-hit games and is tied for seventh in the conference with 11 doubles. Ackerman has also thrown out 45 percent (19-of-42) of would-be base stealers.
• Sophomore starting pitcher Jacob Key was added to the All-Horizon League Second Team.
• Newcomer Ryan Lin-Peistrup is UIC's lone represenative on the All-Freshman squad.

PITCHING PROWESS

• The Flames lead the Horizon League and rank fourth in the NCAA at the end of the regular season with a 2.85 ERA.
• UIC boasts three of the nation's top 30 individual ERAs with Charlie Cerny, Ryan Campbell and Reid Birlingmair. Cerny is third at 1.27 and Campbell is 14^th at 1.69 and Birlingmair is 29^th at 2.05.
• Louisiana Tech is the only other team with at least two pitchers in the top 30 (21^st and 28^th). As a team, the Bulldogs rank 16^th in the NCAA at 3.32.
• Stetson (2.61) is the national ERA leader. The Hatters are followed by St. John's (2.66) and Stanford (2.77).
• UIC is the only team to rank in the top five in both 2017 and 2018. St. John's and UCF cracked the top 10 in both seasons. SJU is second in 2018 and finished eighth in 2017. UCF is 10^th this season after finishing fifth last spring.
• The Flames ranked second in the NCAA with an earned-run average of 2.65 in 2017, behind only Oregon State (1.93). It was the best ERA in the program's history by 0.54 points (3.19 in 2003).
• UIC also ranks 20^th in the NCAA in both WHIP (1.25) and hits allowed per 9.0 IP (7.67). The Flames were second in the country in both categories in 2017.

SOUP'S ON

• Senior Ryan Campbell threw back-to-back complete games for the first time in program history at Georgia Tech (8.0 IP) and against Chicago State (9.0 IP), and then the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year did it again.
• Campbell went the distance on April 28 to kickoff a doubleheader against Milwaukee before tossing 8.0 IP in defeat at Wright State on May 4.
• He leads the Horizon League and is tied for sixth in the NCAA with four complete games. Two of his complete games are shutouts and no other conference foe has more than two shutouts as a team in 2018.
• 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. He has at least one QS against every conference member this year.
• He was twice been named Horizon League Pitcher of the Week this season (Feb. 19 and March 12).
• Campbell began the season by throwing 17.0 consecutive scoreless innings. He allowed three runs in the fourth inning of his third start at Georgia Tech and followed that with 16.1 consecutive scoreless innings.
• Campbell ranks third in the Horizon League in innings pitched (85.0) despite making two fewer starts (12) than the League leader Ryan Weiss of WSU (87.2).
• In League play, Campbell owns a 2.17 ERA in eight starts and 46 strikeouts in 54.0 IP. He is 4-2 against conference opponents with two complete games.
• Campbell made 14 of his 16 appearances out of the bullpen for UIC in 2017. He did not make a start against any current Horizon League member schools.
• He is one of three seniors on the roster along with classmates Bowen Ogata and Wyatt Trautwein.

CHUCKING IT

• Versatile UIC junior Charlie Cerny was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year on Tuesday. He is tied for second on the Flames with 20 appearances, making 16 out of the bullpen with four starts since April 21, all against Horizon League opponents.
• 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.
• Prior to his start on May 5 at Wright State, Cerny led the country in ERA. He surrendered four earned runs and was hampered by a season-high five walks in 5.0 IP that afternoon.
• 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. 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 and .165 overall. 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.
• Cerny is the only player in the conference to win three weekly awards this season after he won is third Horizon League Pitcher of the Week Award on Monday. He struck out a career-high nine in 6.0 scoreless IP against Youngstown State. He did not walk a Penguin.
• The first honor came on March 5 after he made two scoreless relief appearances spanning 4.0 IP against Roosevelt and Georgia Tech. The second was awarded April 30 after his first career complete game shutout. He gave up just three hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out eight hitters in only his fourth career start.

MR. SMITH GOES DEEP

• Outfielder Dominic Smith closed his first season in a UIC uniform with a bang. On May 19 against Youngstown State, Smith clubbed a pair of three-run home runs and drove in seven to help the Flames to an 8-5 triumph.
• Smith became the second UIC player to have a performance with two home runs and seven RBI in 2018. Alex Dee accomplished the feat against Northern Illinois on March 14 in a game that the Flames won 18-3.
• The outfielder hit .417 and slugged 1.167 with three home runs, 10 RBI and 14 total bases to lead UIC in all three categories in a three-game sweep of YSU. Smith had two hits, including a three-run home run, in the series opener on Thursday night. He scored twice in the team's 12-0 victory to clinch the series on Friday before enjoying a career day in the regular season finale.
• Smith leads UIC with six home runs and 35 RBI on the season. Five of his long balls and 28 RBI came in Horizon League games.

TRADITION NEVER GRADUATES

• UIC has finished first or second in the Horizon League (or MCC) 16 times in 20 seasons under head coach Mike Dee.
• The team finished fifth in Dee's first season (1999), third in 2010 and fourth in 2012 and 2016.
• The Flames have won 12 regular-season championships and advanced to five NCAA Regionals, most recently in 2017 when UIC tied a program record with 39 wins and played in the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional at Southern Mississippi.
• UIC won the regular season crown eight straight years from 2002-2009.

For more notes, statistics and information about the UIC Flames and the Horizon League Championship, please download the PDF in the blue box above.