LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Illinois Springfield baseball team's 29-game winning streak and unbeaten run through the Great Lakes Valley Conference finally ended Saturday at Knights Field.
Not surprisingly, the amazing streak's demise came largely at the hands of Bellarmine ace
Eddie Mathis.
The junior left-hander whirled a complete game as the No. 17 Knights defeated the fifth-ranked Prairie Stars 6-3 in the opener before UIS quickly got back on the winning track with a 7-0 victory in the tail end.
Illinois Springfield (38-5, 17-1) suffered its first loss in GLVC play and, for that matter, endured its first setback since March 10. The Prairie Stars are ranked first in the NCAA Midwest Region while Bellarmine (34-13, 16-6) is rated second. UIS and the Knights are 1-2 in the GLVC East standings.
In addition to the excitement of a Top 25 showdown, the opening game featured what must have been among the top pitching matchups in the country. Illinois Springfield's Justin Revels (7-1) entered the game unbeaten while Mathis (7-1) had only been dealt one loss.
Bellarmine's offense got to Revels early, posting two runs apiece in the first and third. Mathis was hit hard in the sixth —including a tape-measure two-run homer by Michael Rothmund — but the southpaw regrouped and was lights out over the final three innings, retiring all nine batters he faced and sealing the win with a strikeout.
Mathis, who hasn't suffered a loss since the opening game of the season, collected his second complete game after allowing eight hits and no walks while striking out seven in 9.0 innings. The defense backing Mathis was superlative in the win, with junior
Josh Finerty making multiple highlight-reel plays at third base and senior left fielder
Griffin Neuer firing a strike to gun down a base runner at home to end the sixth as the Prairie Stars were rallying.
Neuer had a sensational day at the plate on Senior Day. He drove an RBI double off the wall in the first and blistered a two-run homer in the third as Bellarmine built a 4-1 lead. It was Neuer's team-best 11th homer of the season. Finerty added an RBI single in the first.
In the fourth, senior catcher
Brady Pfaadt stole second and scored on senior shortstop
Drew Greenwood's RBI single as the Knights led 5-1. Illinois Springfield responded with two runs in the sixth on Rothmund's homer, but Bellarmine got one run back in the bottom half as freshman designated hitter
Matt Higgins ripped an RBI double.
The three-run cushion was safe with Mathis on the mound. He shrugged off allowing four hits in the sixth by retiring the side in order in the seventh, eighth and ninth, recording one strikeout each inning.
Neuer had two hits in the opener while seven other Knights added one hit each.
Mathis, Revels and Andrew Dean, Illinois Springfield's starter in the tail end, all boast GLVC Pitcher of the Year-worthy credentials. Dean (9-0) bolstered his stock in the second game by remaining undefeated with a four-hit shutout. He struck out three and allowed one walk in 7.0 innings.
Illinois Springfield scored three runs in the first, and that turned out to be more than enough run production for the Prairie Stars to push to the split. Nick Stokowski launched his 18th homer of the season in the sixth.
Neuer had a pair of hits while junior right fielder
Zac Wiley and sophomore catcher
Chris Gambert added one apiece.
Bellarmine hosts Illinois Springfield in another doubleheader starting at noon (ET) Sunday.
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights), Facebook (BUKnights) and the BUKnights mobile app available for iPhone and Android.
GAME 1 BOX SCORE (HTM)
GAME 2 BOX SCORE (HTM)
