CHICAGO – The UIC baseball team will return straight to action this week, as it prepares to take on Purdue Tuesday before opening its inaugural season of Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend against Southern Illinois in Carbondale.

COACH'S COMMENTS
On his team's first season in the Missouri Valley Conference..."The challenges are exciting, legendary programs, coaches, we can't wait to experience all of it," coach Sean McDermott commented Monday. "The Valley is going to be a grind for everyone, but we are excited to bring Valley baseball to Chicago, and put ourselves in positions to win baseball games in a new league."

SCOUTING PURDUE

• The Boilermakers enter the week with a 9-9 record overall and will play their third consecutive game against a Missouri Valley opponent in UIC Tuesday.
• Last time out, Purdue rounded out a two-game set against Evansville, who currently holds the best record in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Aces swept Purdue in Evansville, with the middle game of the series being canceled due to weather.
• Evan Albrecht ranks 91^st in Division I baseball in batting average, boasting a .403 batting average to pace the Boilermakers.
• The Flames will face left hander Calvin Schapira Tuesday, making his fourth start of the season. The redshirt senior is 1-1 on the season with a 4.00 ERA, allowing four runs in nine innings pitched.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

• The Flames will compete in their first-ever Missouri Valley Conference series this weekend, when they head to Carbondale, Ill. to take on pre-season favorite Southern Illinois.
• In a relatively challenging non-conference schedule to date, the Salukis currently hold a 9-12 overall record, most recently going 1-2 in a weekend series against Illinois played in Booneville, Miss.
• The Saluki offense runs through Nathan Bandy, who holds a .400 batting average, also ranking in the top 100 of all NCAA Division I hitters.
• Southern Illinois' pitching staff is still looking to find its rhythm this season, as it ranks 236^th in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.41), and 209^th in team ERA (6.73). 
• Flames head coach Sean McDermott on the Salukis..."What a great challenge for us to start off our inaugural season in the Valley. Southern Illinois is a great baseball atmosphere and a really quality program. While we're excited for the challenges SIU presents us, we are going to take care of our game and control what we can control out there."

FLAMES FACTS

• The Flames will look to stop their two-game skid Tuesday at Purdue, a team they have beaten the previous two times out in 2022.
• The combination of AJ Henkle and Charlie Szykowny continues to pace the Flames offense this season, as the two are tied for the team lead in home runs with three each. Having appeared in all 15 games this season, Henkle boasts an impressive .614 slugging percentage, which leads all qualifying UIC hitters.
• Kade Lancour has been at the forefront of a young UIC pitching staff this season, posting a 3-1 record in his five starts. Matt Zahora has been strong out of the bullpen in his redshirt sophomore season, spreading out just five earned runs in his six appearances spanning nine innings pitched.
• The Flames still rank in the top 35 in the NCAA in fielding percentage (.979), committing just 11 errors in their first 15 games.

PLEDGE PER WIN

• This season, cheer on Flames Baseball and Softball with an exciting new initiative to support our student-athletes!
• Support the Flames in an exciting new way – "Pledge Per Win"!
• Contributing every time the Flames record a victory not only provides a way to celebrate wins, but also to invest directly to UIC's Baseball and Softball programs.   
• Visit this link to make your pledge today!

Tuesday's game at Purdue can be seen for a subscription fee on B1G+, or heard for free on the Flames Network with AJ Schraffenberger on the call. This weekend's series at Southern Illinois will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Mike Trude and Dominic Hoscher calling all the action from Carbondale. Live stats for all games can be found on the schedule page at UICFlames.com.