The Illinois Springfield softball team returns from a homestand this week to host two conference series, with noon doubleheaders scheduled on both Saturday and Sunday.

UIS enters the week with a 25-11 overall record and 9-5 mark in the GLVC. The Prairie Stars have been led by a dominant pitching staff that has maintained a 2.17 ERA while striking out 22.4 batters per seven innings, ranking near the top of the conference. Over the weekend at William Jewell, Alexis Carroll threw a three-hit shutout, and Calista Stahlhut followed with a complete-game win, striking out eight.

The UIS offense has been balanced as well, with big hits from Olivia DeLuca, Emme Steward and Bailey Masching, a trio that accounts for more than half of the team's extra-base hits. The Prairie Stars also excel on the basepaths, highlighted by DeLuca going 8-for-8, Chloe Scroggins 8-for-11, Rosie Bartletti 37-for-40, Rebecca Neupauer 27-for-30 and Sidney Sawyer 15-for-18.

UIS will face Lincoln first on Saturday. The Blue Tigers enter the week 17-14 overall and 3-9 in the conference after dropping a pair of games to Missouri S&T last week. They bounced back on Tuesday with two wins against Cottey. Lincoln's offense is led by Ann-Marie Simpson, who is hitting .406 with 39 hits and 17 stolen bases. The Blue Tigers sit 13th in the GLVC standings heading into the weekend.

The Prairie Stars will then take on Missouri-St. Louis, which is 16-16 overall and 9-3 in conference play. The Tritons come off a 3-1 weekend in which they split at Maryville and swept Drury, and they currently rank third in the GLVC. Kiley Sullivan leads the Missouri-St. Louis offense with a .419 average, 44 hits and 27 RBIs, while May Pasqualini is hitting .378 with 34 hits and 13 RBIs. The Tritons' pitching staff is anchored by Ashley Borowitz, who has a 2.95 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 66.1 innings, and is supported by Ashley Ware (3.62 ERA, 22 strikeouts) and Sasha Buckberger (3.84 ERA, 25 strikeouts).

All four games will be streamed on GLVCSN, with live stats available online.