CHICAGO -- The UIC baseball team hits the road for the first time in Horizon League play this Friday-Sunday (March 26-28) as the Flames take on Oakland in a four-game series. Friday's contest will be streamed on ESPN3.

FIRST PITCH
• UIC was picked to finish second in  Horizon League this upcoming season, as the league office announced the preseason poll on Feb. 17. The Flames received 38 points and trail Wright State, who was picked to finish on top of the league standings after collecting all seven first-place votes.
• The Flames made their sixth NCAA regional appearance in 2019 after winning the conference title. UIC entered as the No. 2 seed and defeated third-seeded Milwaukee, 6-5, in the championship game. The Flames received the league's automatic postseason berth and competed in the Louisville regional.

FAMILY TREE
• UIC's current roster features brothers Alex Dee and Sean Dee. Alex is a graduate student and Sean is a redshirt junior. The duo, who hail from Onalaska, Wis., are the nephews of UIC head coach Mike Dee.
• The pair combined to play in 25 games during last year's COVID-shortened season, making 21 starts. Sean made 12 starts a season ago, with five coming at second base, five in center field and two in right field. Alex made three starts at fist and six in the designated hitter spot.
• Additionally, the Flames welcomed freshman Jack McDermott, the son of associate head coach Sean McDermott, to the team this season.

RECORD WATCH
• Graduate student Jacob Key's is already in the UIC record book and will push to move his name up the list in a number of categories throughout the season.
• The starting pitcher entered the 2021 season tied for third in career strikeouts (208), tied for eighth in career wins (18) and tied for fourth in career starts (42). He currently sits second all-time in strikeouts (227), tied for seventh in wins (19) and third in starts (46). 
• Key finished the 2019 season tied for seventh in single-season strikeouts (90), tied for second in single-season starts (16) and sixth in single-season innings pitched (105.2).