CHICAGO – For the final time in the 2026 season, the UIC baseball team (20-25-1, 12-6 MVC) will host a Missouri Valley Conference weekend series, facing off against Illinois State (30-18, 12-9 MVC) at Curtis Granderson Stadium. 

The series opens on national television, as the Flames and Redbirds battle it out on ESPNU at 6:02 p.m. (CT) Friday night. The game will also be available to listen to for free on the Flames Network and it will serve as our Military and First Responder Appreciation Night. 

Senior and Alumni Day will be celebrated on Saturday with a 1:05 p.m. (CT) first pitch. It will be available to watch on the Marquee Sports Network and available to stream on ESPN+. The Flames will be celebrating all the alumni that have impacted the program throughout the game and honor their seniors in a post-game ceremony.

The home finale on Sunday will stream on ESPN+ with a scheduled 4:05 p.m. (CT) first pitch. The Flames will celebrate Mother's Day with a pink UIC Flames T-shirt giveaway, while supplies last, and will recognize mothers in attendance throughout the game.

Each game will be available to follow through live stats at UICFlames.com the entire weekend. 

Fans interested in attending any UIC baseball home games can purchase their tickets on site at our ticket booth at gate one. Any group tickets or ticketing questions can be directed to the UIC Athletics Ticket Office by calling 312-413-UIC1 (8421) or emailing athleticsticketing@uic.edu.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE 

• Illinois State enters the weekend with a 31-16 lead in the overall series, having won three of the past four meetings. 
• The Redbirds have been on a roll as of late, but fell short to Northwestern (20-25-1, 7-17 Big Ten) earlier in the week on the road, 7-1, snapping an eight-game winning streak. Illinois State's lone run came off the bat of Graham Mastros, collecting his 11^th home run in the season with a solo shot. 
• Brayden Bakes was recently named MVC Player of the Week after collecting nine hits, one home run, four RBI, three doubles and seven runs scored. The redshirt sophomore bats an MVC-leading .395 with 77 hits, ranking him sixth in the nation. 
• Michael Carrano Jr. was named MVC Newcomer of the Week after collecting nine hits, two home runs, eight RBI across four games last week. He collected a career-best four hits and four RBI in the Redbirds 14-2 win over Valparaiso (10-34, 3-15 MVC). 

LAST GAME OUT – VS. MILWAUKEE

• In their final midweek non-conference game of the season, the Flames fell short to Milwaukee (18-29, 10-8 MVC) at Granderson Stadium, 12-6. 
• Junior Ashton Kampa had a big game, going 5-for-5, collecting three home runs and four RBI. 
• Senior Will Flanigan went 2-for-4 in the game, crushing a solo shot in the third inning for his third home run of the season. 

 
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