EVANSVILLE, Ind. (May 20, 2024) – Fifth-seeded UIC baseball (33-18, 16-11 MVC) will open the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship on Tuesday, as UIC will take on eighth-seeded Missouri State (23-32, 11-16 MVC) at 2:30 p.m. CT.
 
FLAMES FACTS

• UIC has reached the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Championship for the second time in as many seasons since joining The Valley prior to the 2023 regular season and earning the sixth seed a year ago.
• The Flames open the double-elimination format championship against the Bears, a team they took two out of three from on the road April 11-13. A win would match the Flames up against second-seeded Murray State on Wednesday evening, while a loss would force an elimination game at 12:30 Wednesday afternoon.
• Kendal Ewell burst onto the scene in Chicago as a grad transfer at UIC, as the outfielder found himself in the lineup starting day one. The Calumet City native reached base in all 51 games for the Flames this regular season and is tied for the UIC single season record for home runs with 20 on the season. Ewell ranked in the top five in the MVC in nearly every offensive category, including leading the league in batting average at .392. Kendal was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week once this season, following a week where he went 12 for 17 in four games, including a 5 for 5 effort to propel the Flames to a win at Northwestern on April 9. Ewell also had an offensive outburst on May 4 against Bradley, again earning five hits in five at bats, including three home runs, two doubles, and seven RBI to find himself as a finalist for the Golden Spikes Performance of the Week Award. He was also listed as no. 31 in D1Baseball.com's list of Top 100 Outfielders this season.
• Zane Zielinski has been nothing short of spectacular in his senior season at UIC, as the Chicago native has been a constant at the top of the lineup and defensively at shortstop. Zane finished the season second on the active roster in batting average at .349 and drove in 39 runs while hitting eight home runs. On defense, Zielinski made just seven errors on the season in 229 chances at shortstop (.969)

 
Tuesday afternoon's 2:30 p.m. CT first pitch can be seen live on ESPN+ and live stats will also be available via the schedule page.
 
Visit the 2024 MVC Baseball Tournament Central for all relevant information pertaining to this week's Championship.
 
Fans are strongly encouraged to support NIL opportunities for UIC scholar-athletes through contributions to The Chicago Collective.
 
For more information on UIC Athletics and UIC baseball, visit UICFlames.com. Fans can also follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_Baseball and @UICFlames) and Instagram (@uic_baseball and @uicflames).