CHICAGO – The UIC softball team (29-21) will be making its 12th NCAA Regional appearance this weekend down in Columbia, Missouri on the campus of No. 8 Missouri. The Flames are set to match up with host Mizzou on Friday at 3:30 p.m. CT at the Mizzou Softball Stadium in their first game of the tournament.

Also competing in Columbia will be Northern Iowa and Iowa State, who will face off on Friday at 1 p.m. CT prior to UIC's game with the Tigers. Regional competition will follow a double-elimination format, with the winners of each Regional advancing on to Super Regionals May 27-30.

RETURN TO THE BIG DANCE
UIC will be making its 12th NCAA Regional appearance after earning the program's 11th conference title and 10th Horizon League Championship. The Flames own a 13-23 record all-time in Regional contests, most recently competing in the Lexington Regional back in 2018. UIC faced off with host Kentucky in its first game of the Regional, falling 10-1 (5) before closing out its season with a 6-0 loss to Michigan.

THE OUTLOOK
The Flames will be looking to add some Regional wins to their portfolio against some of the toughest competition they've seen all season. Host and No. 8 seed Missouri will serve as UIC's first ranked opponent in 2021, as well as its first SEC opponent of the season. Potential opponent Iowa State would serve as the Flames' first taste of Big 12 action this season, while Northern Iowa would be the second Missouri Valley team UIC has faced this season should the two teams match up, having played a pair of games against Southern Illinois earlier this season at the Saluki Invitational.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Flames already have some Postseason history with host Missouri, having met up with the Tigers in 2017 at the Eugene Regional. UIC ended up taking home the victory, 5-4, in thrilling, come-from-behind fashion. The Flames are 3-4 all-time against Missouri. UIC has a 2-1 advantage all-time against Iowa State, last facing the Cyclones on March 2, 2008. Against Northern Iowa, the Flames are 3-8, most recently facing the Panthers on Feb. 15, 2013.

BACK ON TOP
UIC made its return to the top of the Horizon League this season, winning its third Horizon League Championship in the last four years. The Flames have won 10 Horizon League Championships and have made 15 Championship-game appearances since their first year of Horizon League competition in 1995. UIC's 10th Horizon League title came from a perfect 3-0 performance from the Flames in the Horizon League tournament. The third-seeded Flames defeated No. 2 seed Oakland 5-1 in the first round, took down No. 1 seed and host Youngstown State 5-4 in the Semifinals and bested Oakland once again in the Championship, 4-3.

TOTAL TEAM EFFORT
UIC's Horizon League Championship run was put together by a total team effort, with six players making up the Flames' 18 hits and six players picking up RBIs in the tournament. UIC's 14 runs in the three-game span were spread out between eight different players, as Kayla Wedl, Maica Ingles, Samantha Ferguson, Dee Dee Caskey, Cassie Kaelber, Tara McElligott, Maddie Spinks and Emma Crowley all crossed the dish for UIC. The Flames never trailed in the tournament, taking the lead early in all three games and never relinquishing the lead in their three-straight wins.

POSTSEASON TESTED
UIC's senior class – Cassie Kaelber, Maddie Spinks, Kayla Wedl, Kayla Pociejewski and Marley Hanlon – all have Postseason experience, competing at the 2018 Lexington Regional during their freshmen and sophomore seasons. Graduate student and fifth-year senior Kayla Wedl boasts the most experience in the Postseason, having gone to Regionals with the Flames in both in 2017 as a freshman and in 2018 during her sophomore season. Also familiar with the Big Dance is assistant coach Elaine Heflin, who was the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year in 2017 when the Flames attended the Eugene Regional.

WEDL WATCH
Fifth-year Senior Kayla Wedl will graduate as one of UIC's all-time best, with her name scattered across both UIC and the Horizon League's record books. The standout shortstop currently stands second all-time at UIC in runs scored (202), home runs (43), stolen bases (82) and total bases (505), while also ranking third all-time in RBI (190) and triples (19). Her .381 career batting average entering Regionals stands at second in the Flames' record book. This season Wedl's 30 stolen bases and eight triples both rank fourth in the single-season record book, while her 14 homers and 61 runs scored both tie for fifth. Her .432 batting average heading into Regionals stands at sixth in UIC's single-season records and she enters the Big Dance just one three-bagger shy of the all-time triples record at UIC and a mere one-base short of the total bases record. The Wauconda, Ill. native took home 10 Horizon League Player of the Week awards in her career, an eye-popping four more times than any other Horizon League player in history. The senior was also the first player to earn back-to-back Horizon League Player of the Year awards since 2010 and 2011.

CONFIDENT UNDER CURYLO
The Flames have won their third Horizon League Championship in four years under head coach Lynn Curylo and will be making their third NCAA Regional appearance under Curylo's tenure. UIC has never missed a Horizon League Championship appearance under Curylo, taking home the Horizon League crown in 2017, 2018 and 2021. The two-time Horizon League Coach of the Year owns a 142-98 career record at UIC, with a 289-283 career record in her 11 years of coaching. Curylo starred as an outfielder for the Flames from 1994-97. She was a member of the Hall of Fame 1994 squad that posted 56 victories and made it all the way to Oklahoma City with the program's sole Women's College World Series berth.

FIVE FLAMES PICK UP POSTSEASON HONORS
The Horizon League announced its Postseason awards on May 12, and five Flames took home honors. Fifth-year senior Kayla Wedl repeated as Horizon League Player of the Year, and she was joined by sophomore Samantha Ferguson on the All-League First Team. Sophomore Alannah Cran and senior pitcher Marley Hanlon were named to the All-League Second Team and freshman Dee Dee Caskey earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team after her first year as a Flame. 

BRINGING OUT THE BATS
The 2021 Flames finished at the top of the Horizon League in runs (259), hits (382) and on-base percentage (.356) and also finished as the League's runner-up in team batting average (.286), RBI (229) and slugging percentage (.438). Individually, Kayla Wedl leads the League in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.432), runs (61), hits (73), RBIs (51), slugging percentage (.864), stolen bases (30), doubles (15), triples (8) and homers (14). Nationally, Wedl ranks seventh in the nation in runs per game (1.22), eighth in hits, 29th in batting average and 24th in RBIs.

Junior Tara McElligott has scored the fifth-most runs in the League with 33, followed by redshirt sophomore Maica Ingles in sixth with 31 runs and freshman Dee Dee Caskey in a tie for 7th with 28 runs. Sophomore Samantha Ferguson lands in eighth in the League in hits with 48, while senior Cassie Kaelber follows closely in a tie for 13th with 44 hits this year. Ferguson has driven in 28 runs this year to tie for ninth in the League, while McElligott is in a tie for 11th with 26 RBI this season.

HEATING UP THE CIRCLE
As a team, the UIC softball pitching staff owns a 3.17 earned run average, putting them at fourth in the Horizon League. Horizon League Tournament MVP Marley Hanlon leads the Flames with a 1.73 ERA, putting her at second in the League. The senior is 12-5 this season through 105.1 innings pitched, putting her in a tie for fourth-most wins in the conference. The senior southpaw has pitched nine complete games for the Flames this season, including all 21.0 innings of UIC's Horizon League Championship run.

Freshman Miranda Gomez owns a 3.35 ERA through 77.1 innings pitched, while sophomore Christina Toniolo follows behind Gomez with a 3.99 ERA through a team-high 128.0 innings. Toniolo ties with Hanlon for fourth-most wins in the conference with 12 and she also comes in at 12th in the League in strikeouts with 62 so far this season.