The University of Illinois Springfield baseball team travels to St. Charles, Mo. this week for the 2022 GLVC Baseball Championship Tournament. First-round games take place on Thursday, and the tournament will run through the championship game on Sunday.
 
For the second straight year, the tournament will take place at the Lou Brock Sports Complex on the campus of Lindenwood University. UIS will be the one-seed out of the Blue Division, and it will face William Jewel, the four-seed out of the Green Division, in a first-round game on Thursday at 4 p.m. That game is on the same side of the bracket as Maryville and Lewis. The other side of the bracket includes Green Division winner Drury, Indianapolis, Lindenwood, and Quincy.
 
UIS ended the regular season last weekend by taking three out of four games over Truman State, the fifth straight series victory for the Prairie Stars. The squad ended the regular season with a 39-8 overall record, the most wins in the Midwest Region. UIS went 19-5 in GLVC play, winning the Blue Division regular season title by four games.
 
The Prairie Stars enter the postseason as one of the most complete teams in the nation on paper. UIS is fourth in NCAA Division II, and first in the GLVC, with 10.3 runs per game. UIS is second in the league with a 4.46 ERA, and third with a .970 fielding percentage.
 
Zion Pettigrew has been one of the top hitters in the nation for the second straight year. He currently leads the GLVC in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage, total bases, and walks. He leads the nation with 1.66 RBI per contest.
 
On the mound, UIS is led by Colton Hale who is 9-1 with a 3.66 ERA and .230 opponents batting average. Quinn Gudaitis is 7-2 on the season with a 3.86 ERA. He is fourth in NCAA Division II with 14.73 strikeouts per nine innings.
 
UIS is appearing in the conference tournament for the sixth time in its history. The Prairie Stars are 8-10 overall, including 6-2 over the last two tournaments in which they reached the championship game each time.
  
UIS vs. William Jewell
Date/Time/Location: Thursday, May 12, 4:00 p.m. – St. Charles, Mo.
Live Stats: https://glvcsports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Streaming: https://glvcsn.com  
All-Time Series (Since 2011): UIS leads 13-4-1

William Jewell won its final game of the regular season, which put the Cardinals in the tournament after they won a tiebreaker over McKendree. The Cardinals are 30-19 overall, and finished 15-13 in GLVC play.
 
William Jewell is one of the top hitting teams in the GLVC, including averaging 8.5 runs per game and being 15th in the nation with a .338 batting average. The Cardinals are also fast with 84 stolen bases on the year, and ranking top-10 in the nation in triples.
 
On the mound, William Jewell is seventh in the league with a 6.61 ERA. It ranks fifth with a 1.88 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and is sixth with a 1.69 WHIP.

Jake Wilcox leads the GLVC with 30 stolen bases on the year. Cameron Fliege leads the team with a .404 batting average and 63 RBI. Anthony Hansen has 69 runs, and he leads the team with 16 home runs and a .724 slugging percentage.
 
Jake Sawyer and Jake MacDonald have combined for 12 of the team's wins, and both have ERAs under five. Drew Dant is one of the top closer in the GLVC with eight saves.
 
UIS leads the all-time series by a 13-4-1 mark. The last meeting took place in 2021 when UIS swept a four-game series at the UIS Baseball Field. The Prairie Stars and Cardinals have met once before in the GLVC Tournament, with UIS winning 6-2 in a third-round game.

Rest of the Field
The winner of the UIS/William Jewell game will face the winner of the Maryville/Lewis contest on Friday at 4 p.m. The non-winners in both of those matchups will face in an elimination game on Friday at 9 a.m.
 
UIS is 11-4 against the teams in the GLVC field this season, with 11 of those games on the road. The Prairie Stars won all four over Lewis, three straight against Maryville, three of four against Indianapolis, and one of four versus Quincy. UIS did not face William Jewell, Lindenwood, or Drury.

Up Next
The winner of the tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. That bracket will be announced on Sunday evening.