The University of Illinois Springfield baseball team ended its regular season on Monday afternoon with an 8-4 setback in Louisville, Ky. against Bellarmine. The Prairie Stars fall to 21-11 in conference action, and finish the year tied for fourth in the GLVC.
 
UIS trailed 4-0 early but battled back to tie the game in the sixth inning. The Prairie Stars loaded the bases with one out, and Ben Schanding hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored one run. Joe LaCivita followed with a two-run single, and Nick Mayerhofer had a RBI single that tied the game.
 
The lead was short-lived though as the Knights responded with a three-run bottom half of the frame that put Bellarmine ahead for good.
 
UIS runs came from Zach Abfall, Chris Monroe, Ruben Markham, and LaCivita. Brandon Bannon reached base twice with two walks. The Prairie Stars had five singles from Speaker, Schanding, Chris Mathieu, LaCivita, and Mayerhofer.
 
UIS is now 34-14-1 on the season. The Prairie Stars start postseason play on Thursday at the GLVC Tournament.