The UIS baseball team opened its weekend series with Tusculum with a wild split on Friday, securing a dramatic 10-5 extra-inning victory in game one before falling 14-5 in game two. The Prairie Stars, now 1-1, showed resilience in a back-and-forth first game but struggled to contain the Pioneers' offense in the second, as Tusculum, now 1-4, took advantage of UIS' defensive miscues to claim the win.
Game One (11 innings) | W, 10-5
- A scheduled nine-inning contest turned into an 11-inning marathon as the UIS baseball team secured a 10-4 victory over Tusculum in game one of the doubleheader. The Prairie Stars struck first in the fifth inning when Ethan Bowers doubled to left center, advanced to third on a passed ball, and was brought home by a Johnny Wendling single.
- Starting pitcher Esteban Hernandez kept UIS in control, working 4.2 scoreless innings before turning the ball over to Brayden Mayer, who got a crucial groundout to escape a jam.
- UIS extended its lead in the seventh, capitalizing on a string of hits. Mack Clark doubled, Bowers walked and stole second, and Wendling walked to load the bases. Melvin singled and stole second, followed by a HBP for Ezard. Kattula's single, with pinch runner Uber taking his place, set the stage for Clark's RBI single, scoring Ezard and Melvin for a 3-0 lead.
- Tusculum, despite being outhit 8-3 at one point, responded with a two-run single in the seventh, cutting the lead to 3-2. Ty Hollandsworth provided some insurance in the eighth, tripling and scoring on a Melvin sac fly for a 4-2 edge.
- Adam Wibbenmeyer entered to close the game but ran into trouble in the ninth, walking two batters and hitting another, which loaded the bases. Jack Tobin came in for relief, and a walk brought in the tying run, making it 4-4 and sending the game to extras.
- After a scoreless tenth, UIS broke the game open in the 11th. Dillon Smail, pinch running for Ivan Dahlberg, advanced to third and scored on a throw. Wendling's single brought home Clark and Caceres, followed by Hollandsworth launching a three-run homer to give UIS a commanding 10-4 lead. Kannon Walker sealed the win with a strikeout to end the game.
- Jack Tobin pitched two innings, striking out three on his way to starting the season 1-0.
- The second game of Friday's doubleheader saw a strong start for the Prairie Stars, as Ivan Dahlberg singled in the first inning before Drew Ezard followed with a two-run homer to give UIS a 2-0 lead. However, Tusculum answered right back in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases and scoring two runs on a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch, tying the game at 2-2.
- Dahlberg put UIS back on top in the second inning with a two-run home run, driving in both himself and Jackson Blemler to make it 4-2. But Tusculum responded with a two-RBI single to tie the game at 4-4.
- After Mark Decicco relieved Adam Lindsey, the Pioneers took control, capitalizing on a series of wild pitches to take a 5-4 lead in the second. Tusculum added another run in the sixth with a walk, then extended their lead to 7-4 on a sac fly in the third. In the same inning, the Pioneers exploded for three more runs, using doubles to widen their advantage to 10-4.
- Despite a scoring sac fly from Mark Kattula and solid bullpen work from Quinn Hoftender, who struck out two batters, the Prairie Stars couldn't mount a comeback. Tusculum continued to build momentum, and the game ended with a 14-5 score.
- Lindsey (0-1) took the loss, while Hoftender was the most effective arm out of the bullpen for UIS.
Up Next
The series at Tusculum resumes on Saturday at 11 a.m. Central time with two more games.