CHICAGO -- For the second time in two weeks, UIC will meet Northern Illinois on the baseball diamond, only this time the game will be in DeKalb at Ralph McKinzie Field on Tuesday, April 9. First pitch for the nonconference matchup is slated for 3 p.m. CT.

The Flames (12-13) took the first meeting on March 26 at Granderson Stadium by a score of 8-3. The Huskies (10-21) led 3-2 after five innings before UIC scored four times in the bottom of the sixth and twice more in the bottom of the seventh to claim victory. Scott Ota had three hits, three RBI and three runs scored that afternoon, while Ryan Hampe also drove in three. Ota would go on to win Horizon League Batter of the Week honors after continuing to perform well at the plate later in the week during an Horizon League series in Milwaukee. For a full recap of the victory, please click here.

The win against NIU on March 26 began a four-game winning streak for the Flames that also included victories against Milwaukee (2) and Northwestern. The Flames dropped the first two games of a three-game series at Youngstown State to snap the streak, but UIC rebounded with a convincing 8-3 victory in the finale on Sunday. Derrick Patrick and Hampe each had three hits in the win and Patrick scored four of the team's eight runs. Both players homered, as did Ota, who has gone deep in five times in the team's last six games.

Senior Braeden Toikka is slated to face the Huskies for the second time on Tuesday. He surrendered three earned runs on six hits over 5.0 IP on March 26 with six strikeouts and no walks. He did not allow a hit the first time through the order over 3.0 IP. On the season, Toikka is 1-2 with a 4.97 ERA. He has 19 strikeouts and only six walks in 25.1 IP.

NIU enters the week coming off of a three-game sweep over Mid-American Conference foe Ohio. The Huskies are 6-1 at Ralph McKinzie field this spring with the lone defeat coming against another Horizon League foe, Milwaukee, on April 2. NIU is batting .240 as a team and averaging 4.6 runs per game. The pitching staff has a 5.48 ERA and opponents are batting .290 against them.

Right-handed pitcher Nick Bonk is scheduled to start for Northern Illinois. The 6-foot-7 hurler will be making his third start and sixth appearance. He is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in 10.2 IP. He has three strikeouts and six walks with an opposing batting average of .293.