The University of Illinois Springfield baseball team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II baseball tournament on Sunday. The Prairie Stars will be the top seed in the Midwest Regional, which will be held this week in St. Charles, Mo.
 
UIS faces sixth-seed Northwood in the first round of the tournament on Thursday. The start time is currently scheduled for 11 a.m. The rest of the regional field includes second-seed Trevecca Nazarene, third-seed Davenport, fourth-seed Lindenwood, and fifth-seed Quincy.
 
The Prairie Stars will enter the tournament with a 37-6 overall record, and they are ranked No. 11 in the latest national poll. UIS won a GLVC Regular Season Division Championship, and reached the championship game in the GLVC Tournament.
 
Northwood travels to St. Charles with a 27-15 overall record. It finished third in the GLIAC this season with an 18-10 mark.
 
UIS leads the all-time series with Northwood by a 3-2 margin, but the two teams have not played since 2014.
 
The winner of the UIS/Northwood contest will face the loser of the Davenport/Lindenwood game, while the other team will take on the loser of the Trevecca Nazarene/Quincy game. The second round will take place on Friday, and surviving teams after that in the double-elimination tournament will conclude the event on Saturday and Sunday.
 
UIS enters the national postseason as one of the top two teams in the Midwest Region for the third consecutive NCAA Tournament. In 2018, the Prairie Stars went 2-2 in the regional, and in the 2019, UIS won the four-team regional tournament, and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional.