The UIS baseball team continued its series against the Drury Panthers on Saturday afternoon, splitting a pair of seven inning games.
Game One (W, 6-3)
- The Prairie Stars took to scoring on a sacrifice fly by Mark Kattula in the first inning
- Brant Vanaman then scored when Ivan Dahlberg hit his career-first triple
- The third UIS run came through on a fielder's choice and the Stars were up 3-0
- Drury found a run on an RBI groundout in the second
- UIS scored again in the fourth when Johnny Wendling doubled with TJ Yakimisky on base
- The Prairie Stars pressed to a 6-1 lead in the top of the fifth, an inning Drury escaped with a fielder's choice after a pitching change
- Jacob Newman struck out two Panthers in a row in the bottom of the inning after a hit by pitch and a walk. Drury would strand both of the runners
- Two DU runs came across in the bottom of the seventh, earned to Kyle Tyler who faced the final four batters
- Jacob Newman improved to 2-5 on the season with the win, striking out 10 in 6.1 innings
- Jackson Blemler, Mark Kattula, and Johnny Wendling all hit doubles while Ivan Dahlberg had a triple. Dahlberg went 1-for-2 with two walks, two RBIs, and two runs scored
Game Two (L, 8-7)
- The game started with two walks before a Drury pitching change. Two singles and a hit by pitch followed to score two runs and keep the bases loaded.
- TJ Yakimisky capitalized on the opportunity, hitting a grand slam to make it a 6-0 game
- Johnny Wendling doubled his way into scoring position, but two groundouts and a strikeout ended the inning
- Extra-base hits continued for UIS in the third, but TJ Yakimisky would find himself stranded
- The Panthers plated three runs in the third, two of which came from a homer
- Jack Winterbauer replaced right-handed starting pitcher Riley Moran in the fourth inning, allowing two three runs for DU to take the lead. Winterbauer would fall to 2-1 with the loss
- The Prairie Stars found momentum in the top of the seventh when Brant Vanaman doubled before advancing to third on a wild pitch
- Drury brought in a new pitcher with runners at the corners
- Ivan Dahlberg grounded into a double play, raising the stakes in the Prairie Stars' last chance. Brant Vanaman scored, while Mark Kattula was out on the play
- TJ Yakimisky walked for UIS to have two on base once again, but the game would end with a strikeout
- Mark Kattula, TJ Yakimisky, and Mack Clark all had two hits in the game
The series resumes with a nine inning game at noon on Sunday.