CHICAGO -- For the first time since 2016, the UIC Flames are poised to travel north on Interstate 94 to play the Milwaukee Panthers in a three-game series at historic Henry Aaron Field. In each of the last two years, the Flames hosted the Panthers at Granderson Stadium for every regular-season meeting due to weather in Milwaukee or field conditions at "The Hank."

UIC (8-11, 4-2 Horizon League) was the first team in the conference to win four times against League opponents with a three-game sweep over Oakland (March 15-17) and a victory in the series opener against Wright State on March 22. The Raiders came back to win both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday, and as a result, the Flames, Wright State and Milwaukee (13-8, 4-2 Horizon League) are all tied atop the Horizon League standings with 4-2 records after two weekends of League play.

The Flames have shown a steady improvement at the plate during the conference slate. The squad is batting a League-best .304, nine points higher than the next closest team, Milwaukee. UIC is led by a quartet of players batting at least .400. Scott Ota is hitting .417 in Horizon League play with a team-high 10 hits, three of which have gone for extra bases. He also leads the way with 15 total bases and a slugging percentage of .625. Freshman Ryan Hampe has six hits in 15 at-bats and four RBI. In more limited sample sizes, newcomer Chris Papapietro is hitting .455 in 11 at-bats and Alex Dee is batting .444 in nine at-bats over three games.

On the mound, junior Jacob Key has been nearly un-hittable in two starts with a 0.00 ERA over 16.0 IP. He's allowed only seven hits in the two games combined and one unearned run. He has a 6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and Oakland and Wright State combined to hit just .130 against the right hander. He is expected to start the series opener on Friday. Saturday's scheduled starter, Joey Fredrickson, has not been much easier for opponents to solve. He owns a 1.46 ERA over 12.1 IP. The Tinley Park, Ill., native has seven strikeouts and zero walks on his ledger in League play.

Newcomer Ryan O'Reilly has made three scoreless appearances, totaling 6.1 IP. He's surrendered just one hit in that span and struck out four with zero walks.

The Panthers will be playing at The Hank for the first time in 2019 on Friday afternoon. UIC has won 12 of the last 14 games against Milwaukee, including all five two in 2018.