The UIS baseball team travels to Fayette, Iowa, this week for a four-game GLVC series against Upper Iowa, featuring two of the GLVC's top-performing teams as of late. Both squads have reached 10 GLVC wins this season and will face off at Robertson Woods Field, beginning with a single game on Friday at 2:00 p.m., a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 p.m., and concluding with the series finale on Sunday at noon.

Illinois Springfield (17-10, 10-5 GLVC)
The Prairie Stars are coming off a dominant weekend sweep of Lincoln, backed by strong pitching and an explosive offense. On the mound, starters Ben Benoit, Mark Decicco, and Adam Lindsey delivered standout performances, while Kannon Walker secured the opening win in 2.1 innings of relief, striking out five. Decicco was especially impressive, striking out 12 batters in a complete-game, seven-inning outing.

At the plate, Ty Hollandsworth led the way with a scorching .833 average while drawing five walks, scoring seven runs, and driving in four RBIs. Noah Caceres paced the team with seven hits, including two doubles and two home runs. Kody Morton went 6-for-10 with a home run, and Ivan Dahlberg added five hits, featuring two doubles, a triple, and a homer. Five other UIS players recorded four or more hits in the offensive surge.

UIS also secured a midweek non-conference win over Maryville, 13-11, after erasing an early 7-0 deficit. Jack Tobin earned the win, retiring all eight batters he faced in 2.2 innings while striking out four. Hollandsworth led the team in hits at 3-for-4, while Mark Kattula and Mack Clark each drove in three crucial runs.

Statistically, Kattula leads the GLVC in hits (44), while Hollandsworth tops the conference in triples (3).

Upper Iowa (14-14, 10-6 GLVC)
The Peacocks have gone 6-3 in their last nine games, including a GLVC series win over Rockhurst last weekend, their third straight. Their only loss in the series against Rockhurst came in extra innings.

On the mound, relievers William Kuburis, Gabe Olson, and Brandon Hebrank each earned wins last weekend, as did starter Steve Marhefke, who delivered five innings of work in the series finale. Isaiah Maes leads the pitching staff with a 4-2 record across seven starts, throwing a team-high 35.2 innings. He and Brady Stevens share the team lead in strikeouts (26), while Stevens has the team's second-best pitching record at 2-1.

Offensively, Brock Zimmer and Jared Grams had standout weekends against Rockhurst, recording nine and eight hits, respectively. Zimmer leads the team with 42 hits and a .382 batting average this season. Meanwhile, Gunnar Wickland has been a threat, ranking second in the GLVC with 12 home runs and posting a .457 on-base percentage.

Follow Along
All games will be streamed live on the GLVC Sports Network, with live stats available online.