The No. 9 University of Illinois Springfield baseball team begins their 2023 season on Friday when they take on Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory, N.C. 

UIS announced a change to their schedule on Thursday as the three-day series has been shifted to a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday. Friday's doubleheader will begin at 1:00 p.m. central time (2:00 p.m. eastern time) and Saturday's first pitch will be at 12:00 p.m. central time (1:00 p.m. eastern time).

The Lenoir-Rhyne Bears were ranked No. 16 in the NCBWA preseason poll. Lenoir-Rhyne went 46-13 overall in 2022 and return a number of all-conference athletes. The Bears are 3-2 so far this spring. 

UIS looks for a strong start against another national level program after advancing to the NCAA DII Baseball Championship for the first time in 2022. Despite graduating a majority of starters in 2022, UIS returns an experienced group of upperclassmen. 

The Prairie Stars will face non-conference opponents in the first four weekends of the season before starting conference play at home on March 10. UIS and Quincy are the only two GLVC teams represented in the NCBWA preseason poll. Quincy, coming in at No. 20, is one of several GLVC teams that held a top-25 national ranking during the 2022 season. 

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