The Illinois Springfield baseball team kept its series momentum rolling on Saturday, sweeping a doubleheader from Maryville with a pair of tight wins—one in extras and another behind a complete game effort from Mark DeCicco.
Game one stretched beyond its scheduled seven innings, with the Prairie Stars walking it off for the second straight game in the series in a 7-6, eight-inning win. Maryville struck first with a pair of solo home runs in the second and added two more runs in the fourth, but UIS answered with a three-run inning to stay within one. The Saints countered, and the back-and-forth continued into the late innings.
Trailing 6-4 in the seventh, UIS forced extras when Kody Morton launched a solo home run and Corey Boyette drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. In the eighth, Johnny Wendling doubled to lead off the inning, and after pinch runner Tim Herrington moved into scoring position, Noah Caceres delivered his second walk-off hit in as many games.
Morton led the offense with three hits, including the home run, while Caceres drove in two.
Zane Danielson made his first start and kept UIS in the game in the early innings. Jaden Mathon earned the win in relief with 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
Head coach Chris Rodriguez praised his team's resilience in the series win:
"The guys were phenomenal today, staying in the moment and delivering a series win. Jaden was great late in the game, giving us zeroes when we needed them. Down to our last out with nobody on, Hunter delivered a big-time pinch hit. That led to Brian coming up with a double, which got it to the top of the lineup to tie up the game, sending it to extras. Johnny got us started in extras with a double, leading to Noah getting the walk-off hit."
In game two, UIS completed the sweep with a 2-1 victory in another tightly contested matchup. Maryville again scored first, pushing across a run in the third on a pair of hits, but UIS answered in its next chance when Jesse Contreras came home on a groundout to even the score.
The Prairie Stars took the lead for good in the sixth when Drew Ezard tripled and later scored on a wild pitch, putting UIS in position to close it out in the top of the seventh.
Mark DeCicco was dominant on the mound, tossing a complete game in the scheduled seven-inning contest. He allowed just one run on four hits while striking out nine to secure the win as UIS clinched the series.
"Mark was phenomenal and took control of game two, delivering a one-run complete game," said Rodriguez. "Drew did a great job giving us quality at-bats, which led to him being the winning run in the sixth before we closed it out in the seventh."
The series finale is set for Sunday at noon at UIS Baseball Field.
