The University of Illinois Springfield softball team heads into the final weekend of the regular season with two road trips against the top two teams in the conference. Going into the weekend, the Prairie Stars are tied for sixth place as they chase a conference tournament position. Due to predicted inclement weather in Northern Illinois, the Prairie Stars will play Lewis on Thursday afternoon with a doubleheader starting at 2:00 p.m. The games on Sunday will proceed as scheduled with a doubleheader in Indianapolis starting at 11:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m. Eastern).
UIS (27-23, 11-11)
The Prairie Stars earned splits with both UMSL and McKendree in their final home weekend of the 2024 season.
Saturday's games against UMSL featured back-to-back pitcher's duels as neither team was able to string together hits and baserunners on the day. UIS took Game One on a 2 RBI double by Taylor Zawacki. The Tritons threatened in the seventh but the Stars were able to hold on for a 2-1 win. In Game Two of the series UIS loaded the bases, but was only able to push across one run. UMSL tied the game in the fifth inning as we headed into extra innings. A single followed by a sacrifice bunt followed by another single gave the Tritons the lead in the eighth, where the game would end 2-1 in favor of UMSL. Against McKendree on Sunday the Bearcats won Game One handily, 7-0, as UIS struggled to hit. Game Two was an intense matchup between the teams as both are fighting for playoff position. With UIS leading 4-2 in the seventh, McKendree was able to load the bases as a run walked in to make it a one-run game. A lineout to Sophie Margelot at shortstop ended the thrilling encounter with UIS taking it 4-3. In the last two weekends, three different Prairie Stars earned career milestones. Against Rockhurst two weekends ago, Ella Brinkley earned her 150th career hit and Bella Wilson earned her 100th career hit. Taylor Zawacki earned two career milestones in the doubleheader against UMSL this past weekend, 100 career hits and 250 career strikeouts.
The Prairie Stars are 4-4 in true road games this year. UIS is hitting .282 as a team while scoring 217 runs. UIS' pitching staff currently holds a 3.78 ERA while giving up 181 earned runs. Opponents have a .341 batting average against Prairie Star pitchers.
Lewis (33-11, 18-4)
The Flyers swept the weekend as they look to lock up second place in the conference standings.
On Saturday against Truman State, Lewis scored early and often as they won 9-0 both games in five innings. The Flyers had a big third inning in both contests as they built huge leads on the way to the wins. The Flyers continued their offensive dominance in Game One of the Sunday series against Upper Iowa. Lewis jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the first four innings, where the game would end. Game Two was a much closer affair as Lewis wasn't able to score runs at will, even with a multitude of hits on the day. The lone run of Game Two came in the first inning as Lewis was able to squeak out the 1-0 win.
Lewis is 12-3 in home games this year, hitting .289 as a team while scoring 218 runs. The Flyer pitching staff currently holds a 1.33 ERA while giving up 59 earned runs. Opponents have a .203 batting average against Lewis pitchers.
Indianapolis (44-3, 21-1)
The Greyhounds look to wrap up a second consecutive GLVC regular season title as they are currently on a fifteen-game winning streak.
Indianapolis played Upper Iowa on Friday afternoon and showed why they are nationally ranked and regarded as one of the top teams in the region with a 14-0 and 9-1 win against the Peacocks. UIndy amassed 20 hits and 23 runs in the two games on Friday against Upper Iowa. Against Truman State on Sunday, the Greyhounds were able to nab two comeback wins. Game One was a low-scoring affair, but an RBI double and a walk gave Indy the 2-1 lead, where the game would eventually end. In Game Two the Greyhounds found themselves down 2-6 after three innings, but were able to score at least one run in every subsequent inning to earn an 11-7 win on the road. The Greyhounds can clinch the GLVC Regular Season Title against Quincy on Saturday before playing UIS.
Indianapolis is a perfect 10-0 at home this season. UIndy is hitting .326 as a team while scoring 365 runs. The Greyhound pitching staff currently holds a 1.46 ERA while giving up 65 earned runs. Opponents only have a .194 batting average against Indy pitchers.
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.