SPRINGFIELD, IL --- The Prairie Stars look to stay hot in their final home weekend of the season, as they conclude a 14-game home stand with double headers against Missouri S&T and Drury. UIS has won eight of their last ten games with their only two losses coming to #1 UIndy last Sunday. With eight games remaining, UIS sits two games out of the final playoff spot, with four games against the two teams directly ahead of them in the standings.

SETTING THE SCENE
The Prairie Stars are coming off two midweek wins over Lindenwood, scoring a 6-5 victory in the opener before riding a one-hit performance from Rachel Goff to an 8-0 mercy rule win in game two. UIS has eight games remaining in the regular season, four at home and four on the road. The final four home games this weekend will be against two of the bottom four teams in the league, Missouri S&T and Drury, who sit 15^th and 13^th, respectively.

Missouri S&T (13-30, 3-19) comes into the game having lost their last four games and last eight in conference play.

Drury (13-29, 6-16) enters the weekend with a 2-6 record in their last eight games, but having lost five of their last six GLVC contests. They are averaging just two runs per game over their last eight games and will face McKendree on Saturday before visiting Springfield to close out the weekend.

LAST TEN
Over their last ten games, in which they are 8-2, the Prairie Stars are hitting .308 as a team, which is over 50 points higher than their season average of .256. Brittany Miller and Jordyn Larsen are both hitting over .400 in the span, with Miller hitting at a .481 clip with a double and a homerun. Molly Manietta and Amanda Gosbeth have each left the yard twice in the last ten games, while the Prairie Stars have totaled 18 extra base hits.

The pitching staff has been exceptional as well, as Jaycee Craver has gone 4-1 during the streak and Alexandria Smith has picked up a 3-1 record. Goff notched her first collegiate win in the circle with a one-hit shutout of Lindenwood on Wednesday. Over the past ten games, UIS has a team ERA of 2.09 and has allowed just 51 hits in 67 innings.

On top of great hitting and pitching, the Prairie Stars have made just five errors in their past ten games, good for a .984 fielding percentage. UIS is tied for fourth in the GLVC in overall fielding percentage, converting at a .961 rate.

TALE OF TWO STREAKS
 Prior to UIS going 8-2, the Prairie Stars were subject to a ten game losing streak, in which they were outscored 71-23. The numbers have been pure opposites in the last ten games as they were in the previous ten, putting the Prairie Stars in a position to make their second straight GLVC tournament. UIS hit just .179 as a team in the previous ten games before raking at a .308 mark in the following ten. The team ERA has dropped from 6.46 to 2.09 and the Prairie Stars have seven players batting over .290 compared to none in the previous losing streak.

WHATS AT STAKE
The Prairie Stars are in a battle for the eighth and final playoff spot in the GLVC tournament. With eight games remaining, UIS has two games remaining with each of the two teams directly ahead of them, Rockhurst and William Jewell. UIS is currently one game back of Rockhurst and two games behind William Jewell in the standings.

WHO'S ON DECK
After UIS concludes their 14-game home stand with Drury on Sunday, they will travel to Rockhurst on Saturday and conclude their regular season at William Jewell on Sunday.

SOMETHING TO NOTE
UIS will celebrate the careers of five seniors on Sunday: Ashli King, Molly Manietta, Alexandria Smith, Brittany Miller, and Cheyanne Bowman. The senior day celebration will take place following the conclusion of the double header against Drury, at approximately 4:00 pm.