The Illinois Springfield baseball team wrapped up its 2025 regular season with a memorable 13-2 win over McKendree on Saturday. The game, scheduled for an 11:00 a.m. start in Lebanon, Ill., was halted in the fourth inning due to torrential rain. After a lengthy delay and relocation to a turf field in Greenville, Ill., the game resumed at 7:00 p.m., and the Prairie Stars finished the job in seven innings.

UIS had already secured a spot in the GLVC Championship Tournament and is expected to enter as the No. 2 seed. Meanwhile, McKendree was clinging to hopes of sneaking into the postseason field, but other league results made their late push moot before the game went final.

Game Recap

• The Prairie Stars came out swinging, with Ethan Bowers leading off with a solo home run, followed by a Mark Kattula single and Ivan Dahlberg's two-run homer for a 3-0 lead through three batters. Kody Morton reached on an error and later scored on a Mack Clark single. Johnny Wendling grounded out, plating Michael Paule who had reached on an error, and Ty Hollandsworth capped off the five-run inning with the third home run of the frame.
• Adam Lindsey got the start and struck out the first two Bearcats he faced, just facing four in the inning.
• McKendree managed one run in the second with back-to-back singles and a hit-by-pitch, scoring on a sacrifice fly.
• Both teams were scoreless in the fourth as rain forced the stoppage.
• When play resumed nearly eight hours after first pitch, Quinn Hoftender picked up where Lindsey left off and struck out the final batter of the fourth to end the frame. 
• In the fifth, Kattula doubled and Dahlberg walked to set the table for another rally. Clark and Johnny Wendling each singled, with Clark driving in two more runs for a 9-1 advantage.
• Hoftender pitched a clean fifth, and Brayden Mayer allowed one run in the sixth. UIS sealed the run-rule win with a four-run seventh that featured a Clark RBI double, a Hollandsworth RBI double, and a Jackson Blemler single.
• Kannon Walker tossed the final inning, stranding two to end the game after 7.0 innings — just under two and a half hours of play across a nine-hour span

By the Numbers

• UIS totaled three doubles and three home runs in the win
• Hollandsworth had both a double and a homer
• Kattula and Blemler each recorded two hits
• Lindsey (4-3) earned the win with 3.2 innings before the delay, followed by strong relief from Hoftender, Mayer, and Walker             

Up Next
The Prairie Stars head to the GLVC Championship Tournament, which begins Wednesday, May 7. Seeding and game times will be announced soon.