Box Score The pitching staff for the fifth-ranked University of Illinois Springfield baseball team got the program within one victory of the GLVC Tournament Championship game on Friday night in St. Charles, Mo. The Prairie Stars did not allow an earned run in a 4-1 win over Indianapolis in a second-round victory.
 
Blake Begner started the game for the Prairie Stars and went six innings. He allowed just five hits and one run, and he struck out five.
 
The turning point of the game came in his final inning. UIS led 2-1 in the top of the sixth, but Indianapolis had third and second with no one out. Begner collected a strikeout, and then got the lead runner out at home on a bunt attempt. He ended his night by striking out his final batter to end the threat.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, UIS loaded the bases with a walk, hit by pitch, and single. Bobby Barnard singled to score one, and Brandon Bannon gave UIS another insurance run with a groundout that scored the team's fourth run.
 
Cameron Zunkel entered the game in the seventh and earned his second save in two nights after throwing the final three innings. He struck out five of the 12 batters he faced, and allowed just two hits and one walk.
 
Chris Mathieu led the offense with two of the team's six hits. Bannon had a run and RBI. Chris Monroe, Austin Alderman, and Nick Mayerhofer had the team's other runs, and Zion Pettigrew had UIS's other RBI.
 
UIS improves to 36-5 on the season. The Prairie Stars will play Saturday at 4 p.m. against the winner of the Quincy and Southern Indiana contest. UIS will have two opportunities to defeat that team in order to advance to Sunday's finals.