Mark DeCicco delivered a complete-game masterpiece to lead Illinois Springfield to an 8-0 victory over Quincy on Friday afternoon at the GLVC Championship Tournament. The Prairie Stars' ace kept the Hawks off the scoreboard throughout, securing his seventh win of the season and propelling UIS deeper into the winner's bracket. With the win, UIS improves to 35-15, while Quincy drops to 26-26 on the season.

Game Recap

• UIS scratched across a run in the second inning when Ty Hollandsworth singled and later came around to score on a Jackson Blemler RBI double. Blemler advanced to third on a steal but was stranded.
• Quincy had a chance in the first with a one-out single, but a double play and a strikeout ended the inning. DeCicco locked in from there, facing the minimum through four innings.
• In the fourth, UIS extended the lead on an Ethan Bowers sacrifice fly that scored Michael Paule, who had walked earlier in the inning. Though the Stars left two on base, DeCicco made sure the lead stood by sitting down Quincy in order in the bottom half of the frame.
• UIS broke the game open in the seventh, capitalizing on a bases-loaded, no-out situation. A hit-by-pitch and a walk brought in two runs, followed by Jackson Blemler's second RBI double of the day. Ethan Bowers added another sac fly, and Mark Kattula made it 8-0 with a run-scoring double.
• Blemler finished with two doubles and three RBIs, while Bowers contributed two sacrifice flies, a hit, and a stolen base. Hollandsworth also had a two-hit day and scored twice.  
• DeCicco gave up a walk and a double in the ninth, but closed the door with a flyout to centerfielder Ty Hollandsworth to secure the shutout. He allowed just four hits across nine innings, walked four, and struck out seven on 126 pitches — a complete-game gem.

DeCicco's nine-inning gem included:
9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 34 batters faced, 126 pitches

Up Next
UIS advances to play the winner of Friday night's 7:30 p.m. game as the bracket flips heading into Saturday's contests. Still in contention from the other side are UMSL, UIndy, and Drury.