The UIS baseball team (22-7, 11-1) rolled to a 15-5 victory over Quincy (19-13, 8-8) on Sunday at UIS Baseball Field, powered by three home runs and a six-run first inning. The win completed the program's first-ever series sweep of Quincy.

The Prairie Stars wasted no time at the plate, scoring six runs in the opening inning. Tommy Atkinson singled to start the rally, and Corey Boyette followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Kody Morton brought home Atkinson with a single, then stole second before Johnny Wendling doubled to drive in Morton and Boyette. After Kaden Griffitts was hit by a pitch, Noah Caceres launched a three-run homer to give UIS a 6-1 lead after one inning.

Quincy answered with a two-run homer by Payton Mansfield in the third inning to cut the deficit to 6-3.

Both teams scored in the fourth inning, with Quincy adding two runs before UIS responded in a big way. Boyette connected on a three-run home run to push the Prairie Stars back in front 9-5.

UIS continued to build its lead in the fifth. Caceres hit his second home run of the day, Morton added an RBI fielder's choice, and Boyette drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the advantage to 12-5.

The Prairie Stars added another run in the sixth when Griffitts walked and later scored, then capped the scoring in the seventh on a two-run single from Griffitts to make it 15-5 and secure the run-rule victory.

Jaden Mathon got the start, pitching 2.1 innings and allowing three earned runs while striking out three. Derek Huber worked 0.2 innings, followed by winning pitcher Brayden Mayer (1-1), who delivered two scoreless innings of relief. Richie Snider and Kyle Tyler each contributed a scoreless inning to finish the run-rule victory.

Boyette led the offense with three hits, including a home run and a double, while driving in four runs and scoring three times. Caceres finished with two home runs and four RBIs. Griffitts added two hits and two RBIs, while Morton had two hits, two RBIs, and two runs scored.

The Prairie Stars have now won each of their first three conference series of the season, including two series sweeps, continuing a strong start to GLVC play.

"This weekend was terrific," said head coach Chris Rodriguez. "It was a dominant performance. I am very proud of the way we competed today. Jaden got us off to a good start, limiting runs early. We followed up with a six spot in the bottom half with Noah giving us three on one swing. We competed extremely well out of the bullpen, with Brayden being one of the players giving us big outs when the game was close. Our arms continued to attack which led to our offense finishing the game with the run rule in the seventh. We are excited to get back to work this week."

Up Next
UIS returns to action Thursday, April 2, opening a conference series against Truman State in Kirksville, Mo.