SPRINGFIELD, IL --- Trey Hannam and Adam Warda each left the park in the first two innings to give Illinois Springfield (18-15, 7-7) an early 7-0 lead which they would push into an 8-4 victory over the visiting Knights (18-16, 9-5). UIS would struggle to put much offense up after the third inning though, scoring just one run over the final 16 innings of the day as they fell in the final game of the day, 5-1.

GAME ONE: ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD 8, BELLARMINE 4
Three of the first four Prairie Stars that stepped to the plate, reached base, knocking a double, single, and homerun to take a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Gabriel Acevedo drove in Warda, who doubled, before Hannam hit his seventh homerun of the season to give UIS the three-run cushion.

In the second, UIS tagged on four more runs, uitilizing a three-run blast from Warda and an RBI single from Kenny Hansen. It was Warda's eighth homerun of the season, which leads the team and gave him 17 RBI's on the season.

The Knights gave UIS a run in the third after Austin Muench hit a one-out double down the left field line, later scoring on a wild pitch.

Up 8-0, Jose Marin (2-3), cruised to the win, throwing 7.2 innings, giving up eight hits and four earned runs. He struck out five on the day before handing it over to Dan Pacha, who recorded the final out of the eighth. Kyle Strepek closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning to preserve the 8-4 victory.

Muench, Warda, and Hannam each had two hits in the game while Hansen also added a hit, RBI, and a walk.

GAME TWO: BELLARMINE 5, ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD 1
Four errors proved costly for the Prairie Stars as each time they gave Bellarmine an extra out, the Knights capitalized on the mistake. UIS committed errors in the first, second, and sixth innings, all leading to runs for Bellarmine.

UIS was able to put the tying run at the plate in the final inning, as they rallied to not only break up the shutout, but also put themselves in a position to tie the game. Jake Redlinger began the inning with a ringing double off the left field wall and came into score on a single from Aaron Kuper. Another single from Acevedo loaded the bases for Hannam with two outs, but the junior outfielder flew out to right to end the game.

UIS outhit the Knights 9-to-5 in the game but the four errors proved to be the difference maker. Muench had two more hits in the second game while Acevedo and Redlinger also tallied two hits.

Max Biedrzycki (2-2) took the tough loss on the mound, throwing five innings, giving up four hits and four runs (three earned). Adam Gregory and Gavin Collins threw the final two innings. Gregory gave up one hit and an unearned run before Collins threw a 1-2-3 final frame.

The two teams will face off again tomorrow in a double header beginning at 12:00 pm.