SAUGET, Ill. - Starting pitcher Christopher Irwin (Hiram, Ga.) picked up his first win of the season on Sunday as the University of Illinois Springfield baseball team split a doubleheader with the Quincy Hawks, 5-4 and 0-10, at GCS Ballpark.

Irwin scattered eight hits over seven shutout innings with five strikeouts, improving his earned-run-average to 1.40 on the season. Junior Richard England (Centerville, Iowa) earned a one-out save, his second of the season.

Designated hitter John Schram (Bloomingdale, Ill.) had the best day of his UIS career at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and three runs-batted-in. Junior Adam Warda (Skokie, Ill.) had three of the team's nine hits in the game and is now batting .275 this year.

After Irwin pitched out of a two-on, one out jam in the top of the first, UIS (1-1 GLVC) got on the board in the bottom half of the frame. Junior Aaron Kuper (Highland, Ill.) hit a sacrifice fly to center field, plating Warda to give the Prairie Stars a 1-0 lead.

Two innings later, UIS added to its advantage. With runners on first and second with one out, senior Alex Bradley (Peoria, Ill.) drove in a run with a single through the left side. After a fielder's choice put runners on first and second with two outs, Schram delivered a two-RBI double over the center fielder's head to make the score 3-0. He stepped to the plate again in the fifth with a runner in scoring position and came through with another hit, this time an RBI-single up the middle to score the team's fifth run.

Irwin cruised through the sixth and seventh innings to end his day on the mound with a five-run lead. With two outs in the eighth inning, Quincy got back into the game with a two-RBI double and a two-run home run to cut the deficit to just one, 5-4. Junior Jose Marin (Maturin, Venezuela) and England combined to get the final four outs of the game, giving UIS its first conference win of the season.

The second game of the series belonged to the Hawks from the get-go. Quincy scored runs in five of the seven innings and out-hit the Prairie Stars 9-2.

After the visitors took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, UIS threatened to score with runners on second and third with just one out. The next two batters lined out and fouled out as the Prairie Stars were unable to get on the board. UIS didn't get another runner to third until the seventh inning.

Quincy's Graham Spraker went the distance and gave up just two hits while striking out four. UIS' Matt Farrington (Orland Park, Ill.) was tagged with his second loss of the season.

The series wraps up tomorrow with a doubleheader at GCS Ballpark. Game time is set for 12 p.m.