CHICAGO -- The 2017 season was an historic one on the diamond for the UIC Flames. The team won 39 games, set multiple program records, and earned the fifth NCAA Championship bid under the direction of head coach Mike Dee.

Even after the final out was recorded in the Hattiesburg Regional, the Flames continued to achieve success. Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft was conducted June 12-14 and a program-record six Flames heard their names called over the three days. Six draftees is not only the most in program history, but it is the most in one season for any Horizon League team.

Before several of the drafted UIC standouts scattered around the country to begin the next phase of their baseball journeys, UICFlames.com caught up with them to reflect on their time in Chicago. The first of those discussions, with Rob Calabrese, is embedded below. Calabrese was the second member of the Flames to be selected, going in the 10^th round to the San Francisco Giants.The Horizon League Player of the Year had a breakout season in 2017 that culminated with a post on the Hattiesburg All-Regional Team and three separate All-America nods.

Here is Calabrese's full UIC Baseball Exit Interview:
 

The Exit Interview series will also feature interviews with Cody Bohanek (Tuesday), Mickey McDonald (Wendesday), and Jake Dahlberg (Thursday). Two other players - Connor Ryan and David Cronin - were chosen in last week's draft, however their respective clubs, the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox, required them to report just 24 hours after being picked. Therefore, UICFlames.com was unable to sit down with those players