CHICAGO – The UIC softball team (4-10) will remain in Illinois this weekend, heading over 300 miles south to Carbondale, Ill. for the Saluki Invitational. The Flames will be facing Iowa and Butler on Friday, March 8 before wrapping up the tournament with Miami (Ohio) and host Southern Illinois on Saturday, March 9. All games will be played inside SIU's Charlotte West Stadium.

WEEKLY WARRIORS
The Flames swept the Horizon League's weekly awards on Monday, as senior Lexi Watts was named Horizon League Player of the Week and junior Allie Trudeau took home Pitcher of the Week honors. Watts earned the fifth conference nod of her career after leading UIC's offense at the San Diego Classic, batting .583 with seven hits and seven runs.

Trudeau also grabbed the fifth conference weekly award of her career after picking up a pair of complete-game wins in the circle for the Flames in California. Trudeau finished the tournament with a 1.87 ERA through 15.0 innings of work, allowing four earned runs off 16 hits while striking out five. The Flames have taken home four Horizon League weekly awards in the first four weeks of the season, earning at least one of the two accolades in every week they have competed thus far.

THE BATS ARE HOT
UIC ranks 25th in the nation in batting average (.326) and 44th in the nation in slugging percentage (.490). Watts leads the pack, batting .500 to land in a tie for 21st in the nation. The senior also leads the team in hits (21), runs (16), walks (8) and steals (6). Skylee James follows closely with a .439 batting average, racking up 18 hits, six of which have been multi-base. Emily Wetzel and Alyssa Griman own identical marks in both batting average (.353) and hits (12), while Kayla Wedl also packs an offensive punch with a .333 batting average and 14 hits.

LAST TIME OUT
UIC finished with a 2-2 record last weekend at the San Diego Classic, taking wins over Long Beach State and San Jose State and losses to San Diego State and Boise State. Watts's seven hits led the Flames, while James (6), Wetzel (5) and Wedl (5) all turned in five or more tabs on offense. Griman drove in eight runs to lead UIC in the category, while James drove in five. Tara McElligott and Wedl finished with four RBI each.

SIZING UP THE COMPETITION
Iowa is 11-8 on the season after a 3-2 showing last weekend out in Clearwater, Fla. at the USF Series. Donirae Mayhew is batting .346 to lead the Hawkeyes, racking up 18 hits in Iowa's first 19 games. Allison Doocy is off to a 9-3 start in the circle for Iowa, with a mere 1.30 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 14 appearances. UIC is 3-5 all-time against Iowa after splitting a pair of games against the Hawkeyes last season at the Mardi Gras Classic.

Butler split four games at the Hilltopper Classic Feb. 24-25 in its last outing, and is 6-8 on the season so far. Jenna Foreman is batting .426 with 20 hits and 11 runs to lead Butler's offense in all three categories. Alyssa Graves gets the most time in the circle, owning a 4.12 ERA through 34.0 innings of work. The Flames have a 43-17 advantage all-time over former Horizon League-member Butler, but the Bulldogs took last season's meeting at Flames Field, 7-3. 

Miami is 8-6 after they also split four games last weekend, competing at the Lipscomb Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. Ashton Slone and Morgan Lott own 14 hits apiece to share the top spot in the RedHawks offense, but Slone has the edge in batting average with a team-high .438 mark. Courtney Vierstra (38.2 innings pitched) and Brianna Pratt (38.1 innings pitched) handle a majority of the work in the circle for Miami, with Vierstra leading the staff with a 2.53 ERA. UIC is 6-2 all-time against the RedHawks, last facing Miami on Feb. 10, 2017 with an 8-0 six-inning win at the Total Control Sports Invitational.

Host Southern Illinois boasts an 11-5 start to the season despite going 1-2 last weekend at the Coach B Classic. Jenny Jansen packs an offensive punch for the Salukis, batting .400 with 20 hits, eight of which were good for more than one base. Brianna Jones is the ace in the circle, owning an 8-3 record in 59.1 innings pitched for Southern Illinois. Jones has 49 strikeouts and a 1.30 ERA, while holding opposing batters to a .194 average. The Flames are 5-6 in their history with the Salukis, last facing SIU back in March of 2011.

UP NEXT
UIC will wrap up tournament play March 15-17 at the Belmont Invitational.