EMERSON, GA – The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) baseball team cranked out two wins against Malone University on Friday.
 
The Prairie Stars (2-3) topped Malone (0-2) in a 7-1 decision during the opener of the doubleheader. UIS fought to a 6-5 victory in nine innings during the nightcap.
 
GAME 1: UIS 7, MALONE 1
Cole Taylor led the Prairie Stars, going 2-for-5 with a three-run home run. Ryan Dufrene finished 3-for-4 while Michael Rothmund went 2-for-4 with a double. Jack Schaaf, Nick Stokowski, Chris Mathieu and Troy Cantu each registered singles. UIS produced 11 hits.
 
Todd Ropp connected for an RBI double while Matt Noel and Joe Crank added singles for the Pioneers. Malone finished with three hits.
 
Gunner Kay tossed three innings and struck out two batters. He gave up one run on two hits and three walks. Colton Hale (1-0) came in throw four scoreless innings and get the win. He fanned four batters and allowed one hit and two walks. Brock Immke recorded a scoreless inning, punched out a batter and walked a batter. Carter Lawler pitched a scoreless inning, issued one walk and struck out a batter.
 
Reigning Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Pitcher of the Year Roscoe Blackburn (0-1) took the loss. He recorded a strikeout, gave up two walks and surrendered six runs (four earned) on eight hits in four and two-thirds innings. Tommy Brady tallied two strikeouts and allowed one run on two hits and two and one-third innings. Cody Ballay tossed a scoreless inning, struck out two batters and gave up a walk.
 
During the bottom of the second inning, Stokowski singled in a run. Mathieu drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and reached base on an error in the process. Cantu also knocked in a run on a sacrifice fly, giving the Prairie Stars a 3-0 lead.
 
Ropp doubled in a run during the top of the fourth.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, Taylor blasted a three-run homer to extend the UIS lead to 6-1.
 
Dufrene sent in a run on a single.
 
GAME 2: UIS 6, MALONE 5 (F/9)
Jack Schaaf delivered a walk-off RBI single to secure a 6-5 victory for the Prairie Stars in nine innings. The senior outfielder from Springboro, OH finished 2-for-4.
 
Rothmund connected for a two-run jack. Stokowski went 2-for-2 with a double and a two-run single. Taylor provided a double, Zach Abfall added an RBI single and Myles Hann tallied a single to round out UIS's 11 hits.
 
Jacob Mottice finished 2-for-3 while Zach Mottice and Damian Maglione both went 2-for-4. Crank drove in two runs, going 1-for-3 at the plate. Todd and Austin While both contributed RBI singles to round out Malone's nine hits.
 
Brayden Jensen struck out three batters, surrendered one walk and yielded four runs (three earned) on seven hits in four innings. Alec Altmeyer punched out a batter and gave up one hit and one walk in two scoreless innings. R.D. Lutze recorded a strike out, issued one walk and allowed one run on one hit in one inning. Ethan Howard (1-0) put together the win. He struck out two batters and gave up three walks in two scoreless innings.
 
Joshua Hurford took a no-hitter into the fifth inning. He fanned three batters and issued one run on two hits in five innings. Jordan Yoder surrendered four runs on two hits and one walk in one third of an inning. Chandler Stahl faced two batters and allowed one hit. Christian Specht (0-1) was tagged with the loss. He tallied three strikeouts, walked three batters and gave up one run on three hits in three innings.
 
The Pioneers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first after Crank, Ropp and White each singled in runs.
 
Malone added a run in the second when Jacob Mottice scored on a throwing error.
 
Abfall knocked in a run during the fifth on a single.
 
The Prairie Stars scored four runs in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead. Rothmund cranked a two-run homer and Stokowski delivered a two-run single.
 
Malone put the game in extras when Crank drove in Jacob Mottice on a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
 
The Prairie Stars nearly halted the game from reaching extras. Rothmund was intentionally walked. Schaaf singled Rothmund over to third, but the Pioneers managed to get out of the inning.
 
White and Turner Hill both drew walks in the eighth but were unable to score in the inning.
 
In the ninth, Sechen drew a one-out walk. Taylor doubled Sechen over to third. Rothmund was intentionally walked again, this time to load the bases. Schaff drove in Sechen to cap off the extra-inning win.
 
The Prairie Stars conclude their four-game series with Malone with a doubleheader beginning at 10 a.m. CT on Saturday.