Illinois Springfield pushed across a run in the top of the eighth to down Maryville 4-3 Friday night at Weber Field. The game was the first in a four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series.
 
The Prairie Stars scored one run in the top of the first but the Saints answered right back with a tally of their own. Yoonjae Nam singled and took second on Tyler Omlid's sac bunt. Nam then stole third base. His swipe was pivotal as Mike Wilkinson lofted a sac fly to left to score Nam and tie the game 1-1. UIS responded with another single run in the top of the second to retake the lead.
 
Neither team scored again until the fifth inning. With one out in the top of the frame, Michael Rothmund hit a long fly ball down the left field line that just stayed fair for a solo home run to give the visitors a 3-1 advantage. The Saints answered with two unearned runs in the home half of the frame. Garrett Jones reached on a fielder's choice and took second on a wild pitch. Nam worked a walk to put Saints on the first two bases. Omlid hit a ball that was going to be a fielder's choice to get Nam at second but the throw was errant to load the bases for Maryville. Kyle Schildroth took over on the mound for the Prairie Stars and quickly earned the second out of the inning. Wilkinson popped up a ball to short but UIS dropped the ball as Jones and Nam raced home for a 3-3 tie.
 
However, UIS manufactured the game-winning run in the eighth. After a single and a sac bunt, Lance LeBaron hit a ball through the left side of the Saints infield for an RBI single and 4-3 lead. The Saints got the potential tying run to second in the bottom of the ninth but had their baserunner erased on a fielder's choice to end the threat.
 
The Saints slip to 8-10 overall, 1-4 in the league. The Prairie Stars improve to 8-9 overall, 2-3 in conference.