CHICAGO – UIC sophomore Scott Ota has been named the Horizon League Batter of the Week, the conference announced Monday, March 27. It is the first weekly award of the season for the Foster City, Calif., native, and the second such honor of his career.
 
Ota was a force in the middle of UIC's lineup in four games last week. The sophomore batted .533 (8-of-15) with two home runs, including his first career grand slam, 10 RBI and 15 total bases as he helped the Flames go 3-1 against Northwestern and Valparaiso.
 
In a nonconference game at Northwestern on March 21, Ota drove in UIC's first run of the day with a sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning. He later cracked a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning that expanded a two-run lead to four in Evanston. The Flames went on to win the game, 7-1, for their second victory over the Big Ten's Wildcats in as many meetings this spring.
 
That was just a warm-up act. Ota enjoyed arguably the most prolific day of his young career on Friday, March 24 at Granderson Stadium. In game one of a doubleheader against Valparaiso, Ota drove in a career-high six runs in just the first three innings of the contest. He hit an RBI single to the opposite field in left to get the Flames on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first. The with the bases loaded in the second inning, the outfielder muscled a home run to right-center field for his first career grand slam. Ota came up again in the third inning and added a sacrifice fly that helped UIC eventually pull out a 10-7 victory.
 
In the nightcap, Ota matched a career high with three hits and he drove in another run with a two-out infield single in the seventh inning. In the series finale on Sunday, March 26, Ota registered two more hits, he walked twice and scored a run in UIC's 8-1 triumph.
 
Ota leads the Horizon League with 22 RBI through March 26. That is one shy of his 50-game total in 2016. He's batting .450 and slugging .750 in conference six games this season.
 
Ota is the first Batter of the Week this season. This is the second time he has won the award as he was honored on April 11, 2016, after batting .563 with six extra-base hits and five RBI against Northwestern and Northern Kentucky. He joins teammates Connor Ryan (Feb. 27) and Jake Dahlberg (March 13) as Horizon League award winners this season as both have previously been named Pitcher of the Week.
 
The Flames will close a four-game homestand on Tuesday afternoon when they host the Northern Illinois Huskies at Granderson Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. CT.