The University of Illinois Springfield baseball team announced its 2023 schedule on Tuesday. The Prairie Stars are scheduled to host 20 games at the UIS Baseball Field during their pursuit of returning to the NCAA Division II National Championship. 

UIS will take on a number of teams who were nationally ranked in the 2022 season. The Prairie Stars will open the season on the road with a four game series in Hickory, NC. versus Lenoir-Rhyne, a team that was ranked No. 11 in the NCBWA Division II Baseball Poll and made the NCAA Regional Tournament in 2022. The team is currently coached by former UIS Baseball Head Coach Chris Ramirez. Chris Ramirez and Ryan Copeland coached the UIS baseball team together for four years. The Prairie Stars will return to the Midwest the following weekend for the MIAA/GLVC crossover hosted by Missouri Southern State University. 

The first home series of the year will take place at the UIS Baseball Field from Feb. 24-26 versus Bemidji State. They will take on Trevecca Nazarene in a four game series from Mar. 3-4. Trevecca Nazarene had a 37-15 record and a No. 12 national ranking by NCBWA in 2022. The Trojans advanced to the NCAA DII College World Series in 2021, but did not advance to the NCAA postseason in 2022. 

Conference play begins at home versus Drury on Mar. 10. Drury was ranked No. 20 in the NCAA-II Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll during the 2022 season. Starting on Mar. 10., the remaining 32 games of the regular season will be all GLVC games. The Prairie Stars will play ten doubleheaders, with three being at the UIS Baseball Field. Two more notable conference series include Mar. 31 to Apr. 2 versus Quincy and Apr. 14-16 versus Maryville. The Prairie Stars took down the Quincy Hawks in the 2022 Midwest Super Regional to advance to the NCAA DII College World Series. The Hawks were 37-25 in 2022 and ended the season ranked No. 9 by the NCBWA. 

The GLVC Tournament, which includes the top eight teams in the conference standings, will be on May 11-14 in Marion, IL. The Prairie Stars were the GLVC Tournament Champions for the first time in 2022. 

UIS hopes to advance to NCAA postseason play for the fourth time, and to the NCAA DII National Championship Tournament for the second year in a row. The NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament is  set for May 18-20, followed by Super Regionals from May 26-28, and the NCAA Division II College World Series from June 3-10.

Click here for the complete 2023 schedule.