The No. 4 University of Illinois Springfield baseball team cooled down the bats of No. 23 Quincy on Saturday afternoon at the UIS Baseball Field. The Prairie Stars swept the doubleheader between nationally-ranked teams by scores of 5-0 and 7-1.
 
Six UIS pitchers combined to throw 14 innings on the day. They had a combined 0.64 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and a .170 opponent batting average. The Prairie Stars struck out 13 batters, and recorded their seventh shutout of the season in game one of the series.
 
In the opener, Blake Begner took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before allowing a bloop single. He finished going 5 2/3 innings and he struck out four. Ian Delleman came into the game with two on in the sixth, and struck out a batter to end the inning. He then finished the contest in the seventh for his first save of the year.
 
Offensively, UIS scored twice in the second and third innings. Chris Monroe and Austin Alderman both had triples in the second to lead to two runs. Asher Bradd hit a solo homer in the third, and an error later in the inning helped the Prairie Stars score another. UIS added the final tally in the sixth.
 
Monroe had a team-high two hits, and Alderman finished with three RBI. Zion Pettigrew added a double.
 
In game two, Quincy had three hits and one run in the first inning, but managed just one hit until the seventh. Chad Saner improved to 7-0 on the year by going four innings and allowing just one run. He struck out six in the game. Clarke Davenport, Mason Coon, and Cameron Zunkel all had scoreless relief appearances.
 
UIS took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Alderman hit a two-run homer. In the fifth, an error allowed two more Prairie Stars runs to cross the plate. Zion Pettigrew then iced the game with a three-run homer in the sixth.
 
Pettigrew finished game two by going four-for-four with three RBI and two runs. Bradd scored twice and Alderman had two RBI.
 
Between games, UIS celebrated Senior Day and honored five seniors in Kenny Brokop, Chris Mathieu, Evan Snyder, Johnny Steinwart, and Austin Troemper.
 
UIS improves to 34-5 on the year, and 30-5 in GLVC play.