The UIS baseball team faced Southwest Baptist on the road, starting with a Friday night doubleheader in Bolivar, Mo., with the first game beginning at 6:15 p.m. and the second at 9:30 p.m. due to a rain delay.
GAME ONE | W, 17-3 (7 Inn.)
- UIS came out strong, scoring two runs in the first inning with a single and a sac fly. Esteban Hernandez pitched a solid first inning, retiring the side in order.
- The Prairie Stars added four more runs in the second inning with Jackson Blemler's solo home run and a two-run homer by Noah Caceres, who also drove in Ivan Dahlberg and Mark Kattula.
- A solo home run by SBU in the second inning made it 6-1, but UIS continued to pile on the runs. Kody Morton and Johnny Wendling each hit a home run in the fifth inning, and Kattula's two-RBI single forced another pitching change. The Prairie Stars took a commanding 12-1 lead after a sac fly in the fifth.
- Noah Caceres added an RBI single in the sixth, and Dillon Smail hit his first home run as a Prairie Star in the seventh, driving in Ty Hollandsworth.
- Parker Bradford closed out the game, striking out the final two batters as UIS sealed the win in run-rule fashion. Hernandez earned the win, pitching six innings, striking out five, allowing one run on one hit with two walks.
- Mark Kattula went 5-for-5 with 3 RBIs, and Caceres went 3-for-4 with 5 RBIs.
- In the seven-inning late-night game, Ben Benoit took the mound for UIS. The game turned into a pitchers' duel, with both teams struggling offensively. UIS left two runners stranded in the first inning, and despite getting baserunners in the third and fifth, couldn't push any runs across.
- SBU broke the deadlock in the fifth with a single, sac bunt, and an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead.
- UIS had a chance in the sixth with a single and a walk but couldn't capitalize, and SBU's Ryan McClish shut the Stars down, allowing just three hits and striking out eight over seven innings.
- Benoit pitched 4.1 innings, allowing four hits and one run, falling to 3-5 with the loss.
- Ivan Dahlberg, Mack Clark, and Jackson Blemler each had one hit for UIS.
The second half of the series will begin Saturday at noon.