The Illinois Springfield baseball team was defeated 9-3 by Maryville on Sunday in Springfield. Maryville took the series finale, though UIS had already clinched the series on Saturday afternoon.

Starter Graham Kasey set the tone, holding Maryville scoreless through the first four innings. The Prairie Stars got on the board in the fourth inning when Johnny Wendling doubled and advanced to third on a groundout, and Dillon Huber brought him home with a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.

In the fifth inning, Maryville tied the game with an RBI single in the top half.. In the bottom half, Noah Caceres singled and scored on a double by Kody Morton. Morton later scored on an error, pushing UIS ahead 3-1.

Maryville took control in the seventh inning, scoring five runs on four hits after UIS turned to the bullpen.

The eighth inning saw Maryville add two more runs on a sequence in which a home run was overturned on appeal after the runner was ruled not to have touched home plate. The play resulted in two RBIs as the baserunners came around cleanly. In the ninth, Maryville added a final run on an RBI single sealing a 9-3 victory for the Saints.

Graham Kasey led the pitching staff with a strong outing, going 6 1/3 innings while allowing two earned runs on five hits and striking out four. Trey Carter worked briefly in relief in the seventh before Richie Snider finished the inning. Jaden Mathon followed with one inning of work, allowing two earned runs, and Brayden Mayer closed the game, pitching one inning and giving up one earned run on two hits.

Caceres recorded two hits and scored one run, contributing effectively from the second spot in the lineup. Morton added a double while driving in one run and scoring another. Wendling also notched a double and reached base twice via walks.

The Prairie Stars have a record of 29-13 and are ranked second in the GLVC standings. Maryville has a record of 23-18 and shares the same conference record of 17-7.

UIS will travel to Indianapolis for a four-game series at UIndy next weekend.