Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, ILL. – Illinois Springfield came out on top in a 9-8 win over the University of Missouri-St. Louis in a back and forth game by scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning in a nonconference baseball game on Wednesday afternoon.
 
All three runs by the Prairie Stars (26-20) in that frame were unearned. UMSL slips to 23-20 with the loss and will close out the regular season this weekend by hosting Missouri S&T in a four-game GLVC series. Doubleheaders each day are slated for 12 p.m. starts.
 
The Tritons tallied 10 hits, including three each from seniors Michael Budka and Paul Richmond, who also scored three runs.
 
UMSL jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning on back-to-back RBI singles from Budka and senior Tyler Bunge. However, UIS quickly erased that with three runs on three hits in the bottom half of the frame.
 
The Prairie Stars added single runs in the third and fourth innings before two errors on one play by UIS allowed the Tritons to knot the score at 5-5 in the fifth.
 
After the Prairie Stars regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth, UMSL plated three runs in the seventh, including two on another UIS error and one on a wild pitch.
 
A combined seven errors were handed out in the game, including three to the Tritons. Illinois Springfield recorded 12 hits in the win.
 
Sophomore Alan Frank was tagged with the loss despite allowing an earned run. He struck out two, allowed one hit and walked one in one and one-thirds of an inning.