The Illinois Springfield softball team opened the GLVC Tournament with a strong statement, taking down No. 4 seed McKendree 7-2 on Wednesday afternoon at the EastSide Centre. The win marked the Prairie Stars' first conference tournament victory since 2019 and improved their record to 30-18 on the season.

Game Recap

• UIS struck early, taking advantage of McKendree's defensive weaknesses. Ella Brinkley led off the game with a triple and came home on a bunt single by Rosie Bartletti to make it 1-0.
• In the second inning, Nyla Cooper walked, and pinch-runner Sophie Rivera advanced to second on a Bailey Masching bunt single. Rivera moved to third on an Isabella Wilson sacrifice bunt and scored on an Olivia DeLuca bunt single. Masching later came around to score on Bartletti's RBI groundout, giving UIS a 3-0 lead.
• Bartletti then shut down the Bearcats in order in both the second and third innings, continuing her dominance in the circle.
• The UIS defense came up big in the fourth to preserve the 3-0 advantage. Brinkley made a heads-up play at third base to catch a bunt attempt for the first out. Though McKendree picked up two singles in the inning, Bartletti responded with a strikeout, and the final out came on a successful caught stealing by the Prairie Stars.
• McKendree loaded the bases in the fifth, but UIS turned a key double play to get the first two outs. The Bearcats scored their only two runs of the game on a misplay at first base after a ball was put in play on a full count, cutting the UIS lead to 3-2.
• Bartletti responded again, striking out the side in the bottom of the sixth.
• UIS then put the game out of reach in the seventh inning. DeLuca tripled for the second time in the game and scored on an RBI single by Brinkley. Bartletti followed with a single, and Taylor Zawacki reached on an error that allowed two more runs to score. The scoring concluded when Zawacki came home on a Malia Bender sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 7-2.
• In the final frame, Bartletti retired three of the four batters she faced, ending the game with a flyout to right field caught by Zawacki to seal the Prairie Stars' first GLVC Tournament win since the 2019 tournament opener. 
• DeLuca finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two triples and a run scored. Brinkley and Bartletti added two hits each.
• Bartletti earned the complete-game win, improving to 19-8 on the season. She allowed five hits and two runs, one earned, while striking out eight.

Up Next
UIS will take on top-seeded Drury at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday at the EastSide Centre.

Drury (32-19, 22-6 GLVC) defeated Rockhurst 5-2 in Wednesday's opening round, jumping out to an early lead and holding off a late push by the Hawks. Five Panthers recorded two hits apiece, while Kaley Adzick and Gabrielle Bax each tallied two RBIs. Starting pitcher Jodyn Foley improved to 9-7, and AJ Agers secured her third save of the year with 1.2 innings of relief.

When UIS and Drury met during the regular season, the two teams split a doubleheader. The Prairie Stars took game one in dramatic fashion, winning 6-5 behind a strong relief performance from Addyson McClure. McClure earned the win by pitching the final three innings, striking out three and holding the Panthers scoreless down the stretch.

Drury bounced back in game two, using timely power hitting to claim an 11-4 victory. UIS scored first, but the Panthers pulled away in the late innings to even the series.