CHICAGO - UIC Flames softball head coach Lynn Curylo announced the team's 2022 schedule on Friday afternoon. The 2022 season features nine Horizon League series, five of which will be played at home, and three non-conference tournaments. The Flames are coming off a 2021 season in which UIC punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Horizon League Championship.

The Flames are set to open the season in sunny California at the San Diego State tournament. UIC will start its year against Cal Poly on Feb. 11, followed by a game against San Diego State the same day. The team will play a pair of games on Feb. 12 as well, facing Stanford and taking on San Diego State once again. 

UIC softball will participate in the Stanford Tournament next. The Flames will face off against Stanford three times in the early season. Stanford rosters one of the best pitchers in collegiate softball in Alana Vawter, who finished with a 1.54 ERA the fourth-best mark in the Pac-12. Other notable match-ups in the Stanford tournament include BYU, who finished with a 38-17 record and made the NCAA regionals. The final game of the Stanford tournament includes another 2021 NCAA Tournament team in Seattle, who finished with a 30-win season.

After spending some time on the West Coast, the Flames will be headed to Tampa, Fla., to participate in the South Florida Tournament. The Flames will face Army, South Florida, and Florida A&M. UIC will likely be facing one of the top pitchers in the country with South Florida's Georgina Corrick. Corrick ended her 2021 season with a record of 24-9, recorded three saves, 333 strikeouts, and 15 shutouts. USF finished the 2021 season with a 31-19 record, losing to fourth-seeded Florida in the NCAA regional.

After the stint of softball and sunshine, the Flames are scheduled to kick off Horizon League play in Fort Wayne, Ind., against Purdue Fort Wayne, with the opening game of the series coming on March 11.

Following that series, UIC will host its first home series against the Horizon League 2021 regular-season champions, Youngstown State, March 18-19. Youngstown State returns three of its five 2021 Horizon League All-League Team members, including Elle Buffenbarger, who holds a 42-23 record and 520 career strikeouts. She ranks second in all-time strikeouts and fourth in all-time wins in Youngstown State's history.

UIC will follow up that series with a trip to South Bend, Ind., to face the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Notre Dame finished last season ranked 23 in the final D1Softball.com and RPI rankings while receiving votes in every other major poll. The Fighting Irish finished their 2021 season with a loss in the NCAA Regional to Kentucky, the No. 14 seed in the national tournament.

The Flames will continue the season with back-to-back Horizon League series, first hosting Robert Morris on March 25-26. The Flames will finish out the month of March with an additional home game against in-state rival Northern Illinois on March 29. UIC will then take their talents to the road to start the month of April at Northern Kentucky on April 1-2.

UIC softball will then host four games at Flames Field, starting with in-city rival DePaul on April 6. Green Bay will make the road trip down to the Windy City for an April 8-9 series.

The Flames will travel to Indianapolis following the home stint to face off against the Butler Bulldogs. 

UIC will return home to face the Horizon League foe Oakland at Flames Field on April 15-16. Oakland finished last season in second place in the Horizon League with a record of 26-16 and will return all five of their All-League award winners from last season. Golden Grizzlies third baseman Madison Jones returns for her redshirt senior season after leading her team in batting average, triples, home runs, runs scored, stolen bases, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage.

The Flames will then hit the road for seven games straight, including a drive just north to take on Northwestern (April 26). The Wildcats ended last season with a 30-17 record, which was good enough to finish third place in the Big Ten. Three of the four Wildcats named to the First Team All-Big Ten in 2021 are returning for the 2022 season.

UIC softball will travel to Detroit Mercy (April 22-23) and round out their final regular-season road trip against Cleveland State (April 29-30).

Additionally, the Flames have added Louisville to their list of non-conference competitors. UIC will host the Cardinals at Flames Field on May 5 at 5:30 p.m. The last time the Flames faced Louisville was in 2020, where the Flames defeated the Cardinals, 10-2 in five innings. Louisville has one of the most versatile players in the country in pitcher Taylor Roby. Roby led the team with 14 home runs, 43 RBI, 26 walks, and a slugging percentage of .697 at the plate. On the mound, Roby led the pitching staff with 12 wins, 83 strikeouts, and 165.2 innings with an ERA of 2.96.  

UIC will then round out the season in Chicago, hosting IUPUI for the final regular-season series on May 6-7.

Following the final series, the Horizon League Championship is scheduled to start on May 11 and run through May 14.