In Game 4 of the Midwest Regional on Friday, UIS baseball (36-18) earned a decisive 11-1 victory over Missouri-St. Louis (34-21) behind a dominant outing from starting pitcher
Ben Benoit. The Prairie Stars totaled 15 hits — including four doubles and a home run — and led from start to finish.
UIS grabbed the early momentum in the opening inning when
Noah Caceres brought home
Tommy Atkinson on a sacrifice fly. The Prairie Stars added another run in the second on Atkinson's RBI single before extending the lead to 4-0 an inning later behind a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from
Jesse Contreras.
UMSL answered with its lone run in the fourth, but UIS quickly regained control with a five-run fifth inning to break the game open.
Johnny Wendling and Atkinson each delivered RBI doubles during the frame as the Prairie Stars stretched the advantage to 9-1.
Contreras added another RBI in the sixth inning, and
Kaden Griffitts capped the afternoon with a solo home run in the ninth as UIS rolled to an 11-1 victory and remained unbeaten in the regional.
Benoit turned in a gem for the Prairie Stars, pitching seven innings while allowing just one earned run on five hits and striking out six to improve to 8-3 on the season.
Brayden Mayer closed out the game with two scoreless innings in relief.
Atkinson led the offensive effort with three hits, including a double, while driving in three runs and scoring twice.
Corey Boyette also collected three hits and an RBI, including a double. Griffitts added a home run, two RBIs, and two walks.
"We did a phenomenal job of executing as a team," said head coach
Chris Rodriguez. "Ben was nails giving us a deep start. He attacked with three pitches and did a great job of keeping them off balance. Offensively, 1-9 we were relentless with our approach. We continued to add until we pulled away."
On Saturday, No. 7 UIndy and No. 6 UMSL will play at 11:00 a.m. for the chance to face No. 2 UIS in Game 6. A Prairie Stars win would send UIS to next week's Super Regional, with the site to be determined based on regional results.
