SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The Prairie Stars combined to score 19 runs in the University of Illinois Springfield baseball team's sweep of McKendree, 12-4 and 7-4, Wednesday afternoon at the UIS Baseball Field.

UIS is now in second place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference East division with a 7-7 mark.

Junior Jose Marin (Maturin, Venezuela) got the start in game one and earned his second win of the season. He struck out eight batters over four shutout innings in just his second start at UIS. In final game of the day, senior Kyle Schildroth (Aviston, Ill.) pitched 4.2 innings in relief to pick up the win and is now 3-1 on the year.

The Prairie Stars' offense rolled in the opening game of the day as UIS raced out to a 7-0 after three innings. Junior Adam Warda (Skokie, Ill.) finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of home runs and four runs scored. The second baseman is the just second player in the five-year history of the program to hit two home runs in a single game.

The Bearcats closed the gap with a run in the fifth and then three more in the sixth. UIS pushed the lead back to four runs in the bottom half of the sixth and then broke the game open in the eighth.

With one out and the bases empty, Warda launched his second home run of the game to make the score 9-4. Two singles and a balk later, the Prairie Stars runners on second and third with two outs. Pinch hitter Alex Bradley (Peoria, Ill.) delivered a two-run single up the middle to give the hosts an 11-4 advantage. Two batters later, junior Ryan Walling (Spring Lake, Mich.) collected his third hit of the game, this time a RBI-single to center field.

A 1-2-3 ninth inning gave the Prairie Stars their 12th win of the season.

In the second half of the doubleheader, junior Gavin Collins (Camp Verde, Ariz.) made his fifth start of the season and got plenty of run support. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, junior John Schram (Bloomingdale, Ill.) got the hosts on the board with a RBI-double to left center. Schram finished the day with a team-high four hits and two doubles. Junior Gabriel Acevedo (Portage, Ind.) tied the game up with a RBI-groundout in the next at-bat.

The Bearcats responded in the top of the second with another run to take a 3-2 lead. Their lead didn't last long though as the Prairie Stars added two runs in the bottom half and three more in the third to take a 7-3 lead. The Bearcats got a run back in the fifth but couldn't muster any more runs against the Prairie Stars' bullpen.

Schildroth allowed four hits and one run in 4.2 innings while giving up just two baserunners in the final three innings.

UIS is back in action at home for a four-game series with Saint Joseph's this Saturday and Sunday. Friday's doubleheader has been moved to Sunday due to weather.