The University of Illinois Springfield baseball team improved to 28-10 after splitting a home series against the Maryville Saints.
GAME ONE (W, 7-2)
Chad Saner (5-1) started UIS off with six shutout innings in one of his best appearances of the year. Saner let up just two hits and two walks as he struck out ten. He is No. 3 in the GLVC with 69 strikeouts this season while his 3.10 ERA and .209 opposing batting average are good for top-4 in the GLVC.
Mike O'Conor led the offense going 3-4 with a grand slam, a double, and 5 RBIs.
TJ Yakimisky started off the bottom of the second inning with a double to left field before advancing to third when
Colton Klein grounded out to second.
Johnny Colombo singled for Yakimisky to score, then
Asher Bradd and
Brant Vanaman were walked to load the bases for the Prairie Stars. Freshman
Mike O'Conor went deep for the eighth time this year to put UIS ahead by six runs.
The Saints scored one run in each of the seventh and ninth innings but could not rouse a comeback.
GAME TWO (L, 12-4)
Maryville outhit UIS 10-7 in game two, starting off with a two-run homer in the top of the first inning. UIS got to scoring when
Brandon Bannon and
Brant Vanaman hit back to back doubles in the bottom of the third. The Prairie Stars offense heated up as the game went on but left twelve runners on base in the seven inning matchup.
GAME THREE (L, 7-6)
Asher Bradd heated up to go 3-4 with 2 RBI Saturday morning. The first seven runs of the game were scored on homers, including the first by Bradd in the third inning.
UIS began to rally when they were down 7-2 in the sixth, hitting four singles in the inning.
Mack Clark scored when
Sam Bieser singled to center field and
Peyton Dillingham scored on a single by
Asher Bradd.
Brant Vanaman and
Mike O'Conor scored in the seventh but the next two batters were retired to end it at 7-6.
Ryan Carmack fell to 4-2 with the loss.
GAME FOUR (W, 12-10)
The UIS bats came alive to outhit Maryville 17-10 in the series finale.
Asher Bradd,
TJ Yakimisky, and
Raul Ortega had three-hit games and Yakimisky tallied four RBI. Three Prairie Stars contributed two hits, including
Sam Bieser with 3 RBI.
Bieser's two-run homer in the sixth inning put UIS ahead at 10-9 before Maryville responded with one run in their half of the seventh.
Asher Bradd then went deep to put UIS ahead for good.
Brant Vanaman scored on a
TJ Yakimisky single before the final out of that inning.
Braden Roesch improved to 3-0 after pitching innings five through seven.
Ian Delleman got his third save of the season with five strikeouts in the final two innings.
Ryan Carmack leads the GLVC with 85 batters struck out while
Chad Saner (69) and
Connor McKenna (63) are third and fourth, respectively.
Adam Brouwer rounds out the top-10 with 49.
Asher Bradd maintains a NCAA DII top-10 .449 batting average. He leads the GLVC with 75 hits and is No. 3 in runs scored with 46.
Brandon Bannon is in the GLVC top-5 with 54 hits and is quickly approaching the UIS record of 49 doubles after hitting his 47th career double on Friday.
UIS baseball returns to competition on April 28-30 in Kirksville, Mo. versus the Truman State Bulldogs. The Prairie Stars have just two weekend series remaining before the GLVC Conference Tournament on May 11-14.
