CHICAGO -- The UIC baseball team returns home for a midweek contest, facing Purdue for the second time this season on Tuesday, April 19. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. at Granderson Stadium.

FIRST PITCH
• The Flames picked up a series win over league-leading Wright State last weekend, winning the first and third game of the series. UIC needed extra innings to win the series finale, improving to 3-0 in extra innings contests this year.
• UIC has excelled at laying down the sacrifice bunts, ranking first in the Horizon League and ninth nationally with 25 on the season.

FLAMES HEAT UP
• UIC has started to heat up, having won the last two series played.
• The Flames took  2-of-3 from Oakland, winning the final two games of the series, before winning 2-of-3 against Wright State. Entering this weekend, Wright State and Oakland are the top two teams in the Horizon League standings.
• UIC pitching has a 3.33 ERA while limiting opposing offenses to a .228 batting average.
• A trio of players are batting over .300 over the past two weekends, with Rayth Petersen and Ryan Lin-Peistrup each batting .318 while Breck Nowik is hitting .304.

FLAMES STUN NO. 16 BOILERMAKERES
• UIC came from behind in stunning fashion on March 29, erasing a 9-0 deficit after six innings to top 16th-ranked Purdue by a 10-9 score.
• The Flames scored three runs in the seventh, four in the eighth and added three more in the ninth to complete the comeback.
• UIC excelled under pressure, as nine of the 10 runs scored in the comeback came with two outs in the inning.
• The win marked UIC's first win over a ranked opponent since winning 2-of-3 at then No. 7 Vanderbilt Feb. 24-26, 2017.

SMALL BALL
• UIC is one of the best teams in the Horizon League in manufacturing runs, as the Flames rank atop the League in sacrifice bunts and second in sacrifice flies.
• The Flames have recorded 25 sac bunts this year, ninth-most in Division I baseball, and have driven home 13 players via the sac fly.
• Breck Nowik and Clay Conn share the team lead with five sacrifice bunts this year to rank 55th nationally.