FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Prairie Stars allowed just one earned run on Wednesday as the University of Illinois Springfield baseball team swept Kentucky State, 9-3 and 6-1.
UIS improved to 7-8 on the season and is now 6-0 when holding its opponents to four runs or fewer. The Prairie Stars cranked out 17 hits on the day while allowing just seven. Junior
Jose Marin (Maturin, Venezuela) and senior
Kyle Schildroth (Aviston, Ill.) picked up their first wins of the season.
The Prairie Stars jumped out to an early lead in game one with three runs in the first inning. Three straight hits including back-to-back doubles from juniors
Adam Warda (Skokie, Ill.) and
Gabriel Acevedo (Portage, Wis.) got the visitors on the board. Two Kentucky State errors helped UIS take the lead.
Marin was dominant in his first start for UIS, pitching three innings without allowing a hit. He finished with four strikeouts.
In the fourth, the Prairie Stars added to their advantage with four more runs. The first five batters reached base in the frame. Freshman
Michael Rothmund (Lombard, Ill.) hit an RBI-double followed by junior
Ryan Walling's (Spring Lake, Mich.) first career-hit, which drove in the team's fifth run of the game. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from Acevedo made the score 7-0 in favor of UIS. Acevedo finished the game with a double, three runs-batted-in and two walks.
The Thorobreds got on the board in the bottom half of the frame. But the Prairie Stars continued to score, tacking on two more runs in the seventh inning and eventually winning, 9-3.
In game two, the Prairie Stars trailed 1-0 after the hosts scored in the second inning. UIS took control of the game with runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Freshman
Blake Thompson (Rochester, Ill.) went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI. He connected on a two-RBI single in the fourth and then drove in another run in the fifth with another single. Junior
Todd Phelps (Detroit, Mich.) capped off the day with a two-run triple, his second hit of the season as the Prairie Stars went on to win 6-1.
Kyle Schildroth got the start in game two was excellent over four innings, allowing just two hits and one earned run. The bullpen combined to allow just two hits and two walks over the final three innings.
UIS is back in action tomorrow to take on UMSL in St. Louis at 2 p.m.
