CHICAGO – The UIC baseball team will open the home portion of its schedule this week, as it hosts Northwestern for a midweek contest before welcoming St. Thomas to Curtis Granderson Stadium for a four-game weekend series.
 
MATCHUP BREAKDOWN – NORTHWESTERN

• The Flames and Wildcats have met 37 times dating back to 2001, with Northwestern holding a slight 19-18 advantage.
• The two last met toward the end of the 2022 season, when UIC traveled to Evanston, Ill. on May 4, defeating Northwestern by a final score of 13-0 in seven innings.
• The Wildcats have had a tough start to the 2023 season, dropping their first nine contests of the year spanning trips to Texas, N.C., S.C., and La.
• Northwestern has struggled at the plate thus far, with a team batting average of .232. The Wildcats have surrendered an opponent batting average of .362 and have allowed 110 runs while only scoring 40.

 
MATCHUP BREAKDOWN – ST. THOMAS

• The Flames and Tommies will meet this weekend for the first time Friday at Curtis Granderson Stadium.
• St. Thomas has also had a rocky start to its 2023 season, going 1-8 in its first nine games with trips to CSU Bakersfield, Sacramento State, and Saint Louis. The Tommies lone win came over CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 18 by an 8-4 final score.
• The Tommies are hitting just below .200 as a unit, with its .197 mark leading to just 22 runs scored, averaging less than three per game.

 
FLAMES FACTS

• The Flames come into this week after competing in a three-game series with 20^th ranked Alabama last weekend. UIC would go on to lose each game of the series, but Sunday plated the most runs (7) that the Crimson Tide have allowed all season.
• The Flames rank 22^nd nationally in fielding percentage, with just five errors committed in 10 games.
• AJ Henkle has been an offensive standout for UIC through the first 10 games, leading the team in average (.333), RBI (7), and total bases (17).
• Henkle is tied for the team home run lead with Ryan Nagelbach, with each player hitting two in the first 10 games.
• Junior catcher Cole Conn is tied for 21^st nationally with 13 walks this season.

 
Tuesday's contest against Northwestern will be shown live on ESPN+, and can also be audio streamed for free on the Flames Network. All four of this weekend's games against St. Thomas will be streamed on the Flames Network, and three of the four will also be streamed on ESPN+ with the 1:00 p.m. game on March 11 being audio only on the Flames Network. Flames fans attending any of this week's games can purchase single-game passes to utilize the Granderson Stadium Club for just $10. As always, admission to Flames baseball home games is free.