ST. LOUIS – Maryville University baseball dropped the first two games of the series against the University of Illinois Springfield on Saturday afternoon.
 
Illinois Springfield Game One Recap
The Prairie Stars posted runs in the first two innings before an Alex Hoff single in the bottom of the second made it a 2-1 ballgame. A three-run top of the fourth from the visitors widened the gap further.
 
Ben Hopkins got things started in the bottom of the fourth with a single to center field and came around to score on Elias Stevens' third home run of the season. UIS continued to pad their lead, however, adding two in the fifth and one in the sixth.

In the home half of the sixth, freshman Camden Ruby hammered a ball over the right-center fence to bring it to 8-5. The Prairie Stars ended any thoughts of a comeback bid quickly with two more in the seventh and solid relief outings to seal the game with a 10-6 final.  
 
Winning Pitcher: Colton Hale (5-0)
Losing Pitcher: Geo Camfield (0-2)
 
Hitting Leaders:
Camden Ruby: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI
Elias Stevens: 1-4, HR, 2 RBI
Brad Willis: 1-4, HR, RBI
 
Illinois Springfield Game Two Recap
UIS jumped out to a 9-0 lead through the first three innings before adding three more in the fifth and one in the sixth.

Visiting pitching kept the Saints' bats quiet until the bottom of the seventh inning. Matt Schuler stepped up with the bases loaded and ripped a two-run double into the right-center field gap to drive in his team's first runs. Michael Gould came up two batters later and put a ball in play to make it 13-3.

With runners on the corners, the UIS relief pitcher nailed down the final out without giving up any more runs, handing Maryville their third consecutive loss.

Winning Pitcher: Quinn Gudaitis (3-1)
Losing Pitcher: Ryan Louck (2-3)
 
Hitting Leaders:
Matt Schuler: 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI
Michael Gould: 1-4, RBI
Dominic Connolly: 1-1, 3B
 
Records:
Maryville: 8-8
Illinois Springfield: 16-4
 
What's Next?
The final game of the three-game series is scheduled for Sunday, March 20 at noon.