CHICAGO – Ahead of her fourth year at the helm, UIC softball coach Lynn Curylo announced the team's 2020 schedule on Wednesday. The action-packed slate features 10 NCAA Regional qualifiers from the 2019 season, as well as 15 home contests.

The five-time defending Horizon League regular season champs will kick off the 2020 campaign Feb. 14-16 in sunny Fort Meyers, Florida, facing Memphis, Furman, Arkansas and Florida Golf Coast. UIC will then head west for the Fresno State Invitational (Feb. 21-23), facing Pacific, UC Santa Barbara, Ohio State and Fresno State.

The Flames will finish out the month of February and quickly begin March with a tournament co-hosted by 2019 Women's College World Series participant Oklahoma State and NCAA Regional qualifier Tulsa, where they will see tough competition against Louisville, Drake and Oregon in addition to both hosts (Feb. 28-March 1).

The month marches on for the Flames at the EKU Invitational (March 6-8), where they will play a pair of games against both Dayton and Akron, in addition to a single game against host Eastern Kentucky. UIC's tournament schedule wraps up the following weekend down at Saint Louis University (March 13-15), with games against Lipscomb, Omaha, future Horizon League member Purdue Fort Wayne and host Saint Louis. 

The Flames will kick off Horizon League action March 20-21 at Northern Kentucky before taking a brief break from conference play to face Valparaiso (March 24) and Notre Dame (March 25) in a pair of mid-week road matchups.

UIC's home opener is set for March 27 with a single game against Youngstown State. The Flames and Penguins will wrap up the series the following day with a doubleheader. UIC will host crosstown rival Loyola on April 1 before heading out to Ames, Iowa to face both Northern Colorado and Iowa State on April 4.

The next eight games will all be played at home, as UIC will welcome Horizon League foes IUPUI (April 7-8) and Wright State (April 10-11), as well as Northern Illinois (April 15) and DePaul (April 15) to Flames Field, all within a one-week span.

All that action at home is followed by back-to-back road stints, as the Flames and Titans square off in a Horizon League Championship rematch April 17-18, hosted by Detroit Mercy. UIC will then head north to battle Green Bay, April 21-22.

UIC's final home series will be against Oakland (April 24-25), as it is scheduled to finish out the regular season on the road at Cleveland State (May 1-2).

The Horizon League Tournament take place May 6-9, and will be hosted by the regular season champion.