CHICAGO – The UIC softball team (7-14) begins Horizon League action as well as its 2019 home slate this weekend, welcoming Cleveland State (6-16) to Flames Field. The Flames and Vikings will play in a single game on Friday, March 22 at 4 p.m. CT and will wrap up the series on Saturday, March 23 with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.  

UIC will be honoring the 2018 Horizon League Championship team with a ring ceremony on Friday at 3:30 p.m. prior to first pitch.

OFFENSIVE FRONT
The Flames are batting .286 as a squad, second-highest in the Horizon League. Lexi Watts leads the Flames and ranks 51st in the nation with a .441 average, leading the league in both hits (30) and runs (23). Alyssa Griman has driven in the most runs for the Flames, and she comes in at second in the conference with 19 RBI on the season. She is followed closely by Skylee James and Tara McElligott, owning 17 RBI apiece to land in a tie for fourth.

LAST TIME OUT
The Flames wrapped up tournament play this past weekend at the Belmont Invitational, finishing with a 2-3 record overall. UIC dropped a pair of games against Lipscomb on Friday (March 15), but then came back on Saturday (March 16) with wins over Purdue Fort Wayne and host Belmont. The Flames came up short in a rematch with Belmont on Sunday to end the tournament.  
James led UIC's offensive efforts, tallying six hits, four RBI and two runs in UIC's five games. Watts followed with five hits, five runs, and two RBI. Kayla Wedl and Cassie Kaelber each collected four hits, while Griman (3), McElligott (2), and Schyler Ek (2) also had multi-hit showings.

IN THE CIRCLE
Allie Trudeau picked up a complete-game win this past weekend against Belmont, her fourth of the season. The junior kept the Bruins to just four hits and zero earned runs for her first shutout victory of the year. Trudeau's four wins puts her in a tie for second in the League, and her seven complete games puts her in another tie for second in the conference.

SIZING UP THE COMPETITION
Cleveland State heads into Horizon League action with a 6-16 record after a 1-4 showing at the Bears Classic Tournament March 15-17.  The Vikings are batting .231 as a club, led by Kelly Hysong's .361 average. She also paces the team with 30 hits, 15 RBI and 11 runs. Hysong has also seen action in the circle, pitching 47.1 innings for the Vikings with a team-high 31 strikeouts to go with a 5.77 ERA. Hanna Griffin has seen the most innings for Cleveland State at 65.2 innings pitched, and has racked up a 4.80 ERA with 22 strikeouts in that time. The Flames own a 53-25 all-time advantage against the Vikings, taking both meetings last year at Cleveland State, 9-4 and 12-3.

Up Next
The Flames will face off with city rival Loyola on Tuesday, March 26 at home.