The University of Illinois Springfield softball team will see a differed plan for its conference games this weekend due to forecasted weather. Upper Iowa will now make the trip to Springfield to play the Prairie Stars on Saturday in a doubleheader starting at 12:00 p.m. After that, UIS will play away at Truman State in a doubleheader at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday in Kirksville, Mo.
UIS (18-12, 2-2)
The Prairie Stars split both their Saturday and Sunday games to begin the conference schedule with a 2-2 record.
UIS dropped a tight Game One to Maryville on Saturday, 7-3, as the Saints pulled away in the seventh inning. UIS responded in Game Two with some seventh inning heroics of their own as Sophie Margelot hit a walk-off single to earn the win, 7-6, after an exciting beginning to the game.
On Sunday against Missouri S&T, the Stars won Game One behind a solid performance from Rosie Bartletti in the circle and a four-run third inning. A two-run home run from Taylor Zawacki in the third was the catalyst for the 6-4 win. In Game Two of the day, the Miners jumped out to an early lead that UIS could not recover from. The Prairie Stars threatened in the later innings, but weren't able to bring enough runners home as S&T held on for their first conference win of the year, 7-3.
UIS is hitting .305 as a team this season with 160 runs. The Stars currently have four players with averages over .350; Ella Brinkley (.409), Isabella Wilson (.391), Adi Rumler (.358), and Malia Bender (.356). Rosie Bartletti and Alexis Carroll both have earned six wins in the circle this year.
Upper Iowa (10-18, 0-2)
The Peacocks enter the weekend on a four game losing streak, but have only played two conference games last weekend.
UIU fell behind early to TSU, but began a comeback in the later innings. The two teams combined for nine runs in the final three innings, but this offensive spark wasn't enough to give Upper Iowa the lead, as Truman State won Game One 6-5. Truman State continued their offensive output in Game Two, exploding for an 11-3 win in only 5 innings.
UIU is hitting .256 as a team this season while scoring 103 runs. Upper Iowa's top hitters are Ari Charles and Kylie Doty. Charles is hitting .389 on the season with 11 RBIs and 21 runs scored. Delaney Vetter (4-8) has started 13 games and thrown 8 complete games. She has a 3.58 ERA with 77 strikeouts in 74.1 innings pitched.
Truman State (10-14, 2-0)
The Bulldogs enter the weekend after winning their last three games, including both against Upper Iowa on opening weekend of GLVC play.
The Bulldogs are hitting .298 as a team this season while having scored 109 runs. TSU is led by Emily Wood, Charlotte Chelich, and Cameryn Patterson. Wood is hitting .415 with 14 RBIs and 26 runs scored. Chelich is hitting .390 with 17 RBIs and 11 runs scored. Patterson is hitting .352 with 13 RBIs and runs scored. Madie Anderson has started 12 games in the circle for the Bulldogs, while Kaylyn Jones has started 6.
How to Follow
Every conference game of the 2024 season will be streamed on GLVCSN and will have live stats that you can follow. Both the stream and live stat link can be found in the Softball section on the UIS Athletics website.