SERIES SCHEDULE UPDATE – DETAILS BELOW
No. 25 Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars baseball heads to Indianapolis for a four-game GLVC series against the Indianapolis Greyhounds, with updated game times and locations listed below. All times Eastern.

UPDATED SERIES SCHEDULE

• Friday, April 24 – 8:00 PM ET
  at Franklin Central High School
  Streaming details are still to be determined.
• Saturday, April 25 – 1:00 PM ET
  at UIndy
• Saturday, April 25 – 4:30 PM ET 
  at UIndy
• Sunday, April 26 – 12:00 PM ET
  at UIndy

UIS (29-13, 17-7 GLVC) is part of a tightly packed group sitting in second place in the league standings alongside Drury, Maryville, and Missouri-St. Louis, all chasing Missouri S&T at 20-4. Indianapolis and Rockhurst sit just behind at 15-9, with Quincy still within striking distance as the regular season enters its final two weekends. UIS is currently the only GLVC team ranked in the NCBWA poll at No. 25 after Missouri S&T dropped out, and the Prairie Stars moved back up to No. 3 in the latest Midwest Regional rankings.

The first NCAA Division II Regional Rankings of the season were released Wednesday, with the list presented in alphabetical order for this opening week. Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars is one of five Great Lakes Valley Conference teams included. View the full rankings here. A ranked-order list will be announced in the coming weeks. 

The Prairie Stars are coming off a series win over Maryville that showed both resilience and timely hitting. UIS erased a six-run deficit in the ninth inning of the opener before Noah Caceres delivered a walk-off single, then followed it up with another late-game hit to win game two in the eighth. Mark DeCicco handled game three with a complete-game effort in a 2-1 win before UIS dropped the finale 9-3.

Statistically, UIS has been one of the most complete teams in the conference, ranking near the top in hits, runs, doubles, home runs, and fielding percentage, while also leading the league with a 5.70 ERA. Corey Boyette and Kaden Griffitts have provided power to the offense, both ranking among the league leaders in slugging, while leadoff hitter Tommy Atkinson leads the GLVC in runs scored. On the mound, Ben Benoit and Mark DeCicco each have six wins, and Isaac Graf has anchored the back end with four saves.

Indianapolis (24-18, 15-9 GLVC) comes in after dropping a series to Missouri-St. Louis but had built a 10-game winning streak earlier in April. The Greyhounds feature one of the top pitching staffs in the conference, sitting second in ERA behind UIS, and are led offensively by Austin Bode, who ranks among the league leaders in slugging and home runs, along with Brayton Bowen, who leads the GLVC in on-base percentage and walks.

The matchup has become a strong recent rivalry. UIS leads the all-time series 24-19 and won 10 straight meetings from 2017 through 2022, but Indianapolis has taken the last two season series. The two also met in the 2023 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional in Springfield, where Indianapolis came away with an 11-10 win in 11 innings.

All games will be available to watch on GLVCSN with live stats provided by the host school, and UIS softball will also be in Indianapolis on Sunday for a doubleheader beginning at noon.