The Illinois Springfield baseball team came out on top in a high-scoring opener at McKendree, winning 13-10 on Thursday afternoon. The Prairie Stars improve to 31-14 overall and 21-7 in GLVC play.

Game Recap

• Ethan Bowers set the tone with a leadoff home run, and Ivan Dahlberg added another blast in the first inning as UIS jumped ahead early. McKendree responded with a pair of RBI hits to tie it 2-2 in the bottom of the first.
• Jackson Blemler drove in Mack Clark with a groundout in the second, giving UIS a 3-2 lead before Esteban Hernandez settled in with a clean inning on the mound.
• The Bearcats surged ahead with a five-run third inning, highlighted by a three-run homer and a two-run shot. Kannon Walker took over in relief for Hernandez following the first home run.
• The Prairie Stars flipped the game back in their favor with a huge six-run fourth inning. Mack Clark led off with a double, and after a walk and a single by Blemler, Bowers drove in a run on a fielder's choice. Mark Kattula followed with a two-RBI double to trail 7-6. Dahlberg singled in Kattula for the game-tying run, and Noah Caceres blasted a two-run homer to right field to make it 9-7 UIS.
• McKendree tied the game at 9-9 in the bottom of the fourth and gained the lead with a solo home run in the fifth.
• UIS regained the lead for good in the top of the eighth when Bowers scored on a Dahlberg RBI single, and Kattula came home on a Kody Morton sacrifice fly to make it 11-10.
• In the ninth, the Prairie Stars added insurance with an RBI double by Bowers and a run-scoring single by Kattula. Seth Masters closed out the win with a pair of groundouts and a strikeout in the bottom of the frame.
• Austin Loberger (1-0) earned the win, throwing three innings and allowing just one run on two hits. Esteban Hernandez started and pitched 2.1 innings. Masters earned the save with a scoreless ninth.

Up Next
UIS continues the four-game road series with a Friday doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m. Each game is scheduled for seven innings.