CHICAGO – The UIC baseball team will close out its four-game home stand this week before heading back out on the road this weekend in its return to Missouri Valley Conference play. The Flames will first put their 3-0 record against the Big Ten Conference on the line Tuesday night, as they welcome Iowa to Curtis Granderson Stadium. As the push towards the Missouri Valley Baseball Championship in May heats up, the Flames will look to improve their standing in the conference this weekend as they take on Valparaiso at Emory G. Bauer Field in Indiana.
 
SCOUTING IOWA

• The Hawkeyes enter play this week with a 25-9 overall record and a 4-5 mark in Big Ten play. Iowa has won three of its last four contests, including taking two out of three games at Minnesota over the weekend.
• Overall, the Hawkeyes are hitting .289 as a team, while averaging 8.38 runs per game. The Iowa pitching staff has a 4.22 ERA.
• Keaton Anthony leads the way for Iowa offensively, as the redshirt sophomore ranks first on the roster in batting average (.354), doubles (19), and home runs (7).
• The Flames own an 8-3 all-time record against the Hawkeyes.

 
SCOUTING VALPARAISO

• The Beacons enter the week with a 14-14 overall record, with a road match-up at Notre Dame still to play on Tuesday. Valparaiso currently sits in seventh place in the Missouri Valley standings, just one spot ahead of the Flames with a 5-7 mark in conference play.
• Momentum will be on the side of the Beacons this week, as they most recently went on the road last weekend and swept a three-game series against Bradley, including a 10-0 run-rule win over the Braves to cap a Saturday doubleheader sweep.
• Valparaiso boasts a balanced offensive attack, with three everyday players hitting over the .300 mark, and a fourth hitting .297 and leading the team in home runs (5) and doubles (9) in Kyle Schmack.

 
FLAMES FACTS

• The Flames will look to right the ship this week after being swept in a three-game series over the weekend at home against Missouri State.
• Scoring first has been a huge key to success for the Flames this season, as UIC has a 10-6 record in games in which it scores first, but a 4-11 record when allowing its opponents to get on the board first.
• Charlie Szykowny has been a steady presence near the top of the Flames' lineup this season, as the grad transfer ranks fourth in the Missouri Valley with 10 home runs and leads UIC in batting average at .325 on the year.
• Zak Gould has been a workhorse out of the UIC bullpen this season, appearing in 13 games with a 5-2 record. The redshirt junior has thrown 36 innings on the year and surrendered just 31 earned runs.

 
Tuesday night's match-up can be seen live on ESPN+, as well as listened to for free on the Flames Network. All three games in the Valparaiso series, beginning Friday afternoon, can be heard live on the Flames Network, and no video streaming will be available for those three games. Tuesday's first pitch from Granderson Stadium is set for 6:00 p.m. CT, while Friday's series opener will be a 3:00 p.m. CT first pitch from Valparaiso, Ind. The final two games of the series Saturday and Sunday are both scheduled as 1:00 p.m. CT first pitches.