Box Score The No. 11 University of Illinois Springfield baseball team started NCAA Division II Regional play on Thursday morning in St. Charles, Mo. Over seven hours later, the Prairie Stars fell to Northwood by a 13-9 score in a wild back-and-forth first-round game.
 
Northwood jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, including a two-run homer in the third inning and three runs in the fourth. Eddie Wilkins came into the game as the third UIS pitcher in that fourth inning, and he settled the team down. He pitched 2 2/3 innings in his fourth appearance of the year, and allowed just one run.
 
Wilkins exited the game after a nearly three-hour rain delay, but that delay also forced Northwood to go to its bullpen early than it wanted. UIS took advantage in the seventh inning.
 
Bobby Barnard started the rally with a one-out single, and that was followed by a single by Brandon Bannon. Asher Bradd next hit one back to the pitcher, but an error allowed Bradd to reach base and Barnard scored to make the game 7-3. Zion Pettigrew then doubled both of those runners home to cut two more off the deficit.
 
The inning continued for the Prairie Stars as a single and hit by pitch loaded the bases with two outs. Chris Mathieu came to the plate and got ahead in the count with two straight balls. After a strike, Mathieu lined the next pitched to left center. All three runners scored, and Mathieu was awarded home after the throw trying to get him at third on the triple went astray, and into the dugout.
 
UIS had the momentum after that, but it had trouble putting away Northwood's hot bats. In the eighth, the Timberwolves had runners on third and second with two outs, but Mason Coon came into the game and got a strikeout on three straight pitches to end the threat.
 
In the ninth, Northwood loaded the bases with just one out. Coon got a strikeout for out number two, and the next batter hit a hard grounder to third. The ball took a bad bounce, and went into left field for a game-tying single.
 
UIS could not score the game-winner in the ninth, and the two teams were forced into another weather delay before extra innings.
 
The Timberwolves got a rally going right after the delay. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with one out. UIS got a strikeout, but Northwood collected another two-out, two-run single that proved to be the game-winner. It added two more runs for the final four-run margin.
 
UIS's offense was led on the day by Pettigrew and Mathieu, who both had three hits, three RBI, and one run. Asher Bradd had two hits and two runs, and Austin Alderman scored twice.
 
UIS falls to 37-7 on the season. The Prairie Stars will play on Friday against the loser of the Trevecca Nazarene/Quincy game as they look to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament.