CHICAGO -- UIC will embark upon a five-game road trip beginning on Tuesday, April 23, when the Flames will visit the Northwestern Wildcats in nearby Evanston, Ill. The second game of the season between the two clubs will get underway from Rocky and Berenice Miller Park at 3:30 p.m. CT.

The Wildcats (16-20) visited Granderson Stadium on April 3, when the Flames (18-13) doubled up their guests to the tune of 4-2. Alex Dee and Scott Ota both homered in the game and Matt Bottcher's double in the bottom of the seventh inning gave UIC the lead for good. Braeden Toikka, Fred Gosbeth, Ryan O'Reilly and Alex Padilla limited Northwestern to two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and just won walk. Gosbeth registered the victory on the mound, while Padilla nailed down his third save of the season.

The Flames are 8-4 in the month of April and 3-0 against non-conference opponents (Northwestern, Northern Illinois and Illinois State). The Flames are hitting .285 during the month with 40 extra-base hits. Ota has put up offensive numbers this month that would be comparable to what many can do during an entire season. The senior is batting .407 (22-of-54) with five doubles, two triples and eight home runs. Ota has 30 RBI in UIC's last 12 games and he is slugging 1.019 with 14 runs scored during the stretch. He ranks sixth in the NCAA in home runs per game (0.42) and 10^th in both RBI per game (1.36) and slugging percentage (.789). Ota has already set career highs in home runs (14) and RBI (45) and is three doubles, five runs and 11 hits shy of hitting career-best marks in each of those categories.

The pitching staff has an ERA of 3.55 during this month. The bullpen owns a 1.64 ERA in 44.0 IP over the last 12 games. Three relievers - Padilla, Sam Menegat and Jordan Krueger - have not allowed a run in at least three appearances each in April. Overall, UIC's 3.36 ERA leads the Horizon League and ranks 19^th in the NCAA through April 21.

Toikka is tentatively scheduled to make his eighth start of the season Tuesday, and the second against NU. He gave up one earned run on two hits over a season-high 5.1 IP on April 3. He struck out four.

Northwestern is also scheduled to send a southpaw to the mound, freshman Parker Hanks. He did not pitch at Granderson Stadium and will be making his fifth start of the season on Tuesday afternoon.