ST. LOUIS, MO --- The Prairie Stars (14-13, 1-3) had their winning ways halted, if only for a day, at Maryville, falling in a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader by scores of 8-4, and 7-2.
Ali Haesele (9-4) lost for the first time in six outings in game one before
Jaycee Craver (3-5) took the loss in game two.
GAME ONE: MARYVILLE 8, ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD 4
The day began with Maryville plating three runs in the bottom of the first, sending seven batters to the plate. This marked the first time in seven outings that Haesele had surrendered more than one run.
Haesele continued to produce with the bat though, driving in a run in the fourth inning, scoring
Lakyn Wagoner, who singled earlier in the inning.
Down 4-1 in the fifth, UIS surrendered three runs in the fifth to push the score to 7-1 but came back in the top of the sixth with two runs of their own. It was Wagoner again, doubling to score
Bree Derhake before coming in to score on a sacrifice fly by
Rachel Goff.
Goff drove in a run of her own in the seventh to push the score to 8-4 where it became final.
UIS left nine runners on base in the game ---
Erin Stroup and
BriAnna Edgar three times each. Wagoner went 3-for-4 with two runs, a double, and an RBI. Derhake had one hit and scored twice.
GAME TWO: MARYVILLE 7, ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD 2
The Prairie Stars jumped out on top early in game two, scoring a run in the top of the first. Stroup drew a one-out walk and came into score on a Saints error. UIS held the lead until the bottom of the second when a one-out single tied the game at one.
UIS put runners on in the third and fourth but couldn't get them home, leaving two runners in scoring position. Maryville took advantage, scoring twice in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out two-run single.
A run in the fifth pushed the score to 4-1 but UIS came back with a run in the sixth on an RBI double from Edgar.
The Saints tacked on three runs in the bottom of the sixth to push the score to 7-2 before UIS put another runner on in the seventh before the score became final. The Prairie Stars had just five hits in the second game from five different players.
Edgar now has seven doubles on the season, good for second on the team. Meanwhile, two freshmen --- Wagoner and Stroup --- lead the way in hitting, batting .373 and .358, respectively.
After an eight game Florida road trip and four road games to open up GLVC play, UIS will return home for four straight games against Quincy and Truman State and play 10 of their next 11 games at their home field.
