The No. 4 University of Illinois Springfield baseball team lost the rubber game of its series against Parkside on Wednesday at the UIS Baseball Field. The Prairie Stars fell by a 5-2 margin.
 
UIS struck first in the first inning when John Sechen opened the bottom half of the inning with a double. Two straight fly outs, including a sacrifice fly by Zach Speaker, advanced Sechen and allowed him to score the game's opening run.
 
Parkside answered in the top half of the second, and then took a 4-1 lead with one run in the fourth and two in the fifth. UIS got a home run by Nick Mayerhofer in the sixth inning, but that would be the final tally for the Prairie Stars in the game.
 
Sechen, Chris Mathieu, and Mayerhofer each had two hits, but the rest of the lineup went just one-for-19 on the day. Mason Coon pitched 4 1/3 innings and struck out nine batters, but took the loss. Trent Sidwell, Joe Dittmar, and Tyler Horvath combined to pitch the final 4 2/3 innings, and the trio allowed just one run.
 
UIS falls to 11-3-1 on the season. The Prairie Stars return to GLVC action this weekend at Rockhurst.