LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The fifth-ranked Illinois Springfield baseball team used a bevy of home runs to sweep No. 17 Bellarmine by scores of 5-3 and 14-5 on Sunday at Knights Field in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
With the first victory, UIS (40-5, 19-1 GLVC) clinched the GLVC East title. Bellarmine (34-15, 16-8) won the series opener, but the Prairie Stars captured the final three games. The Knights wrapped up their regular season.
Illinois Springfield walloped six total homers Sunday, with three coming in each game. Long balls accounted for all of the Prairie Stars' runs in the opener. Troy Cantu smacked a two-run homer in the second, Cole Taylor lifted a two-run shot in the third and Michael Rothmund made it back-to-back with Taylor by immediately following with a solo blast.
In the series finale, Nick Stokowski bashed a pair of homers to boost his total to 20 for the season. His two-run homer in the fifth knotted the game at 4, and he cranked another two-run shot in an eight-run eighth that led to a close contest turning into a one-sided affair. Taylor also had a two-run homer in the definitive eighth frame.
Bellarmine never found offensive consistency Sunday. The Knights only scored runs in three innings over the doubleheader. Senior catcher
Brady Pfaadt tattooed a three-run homer in the second inning of the opener, but those were the only runs Bellarmine scored.
In the finale, Bellarmine scored four times in the third as senior second baseman
Alex Ralph delivered a two-run single and Pfaadt had an RBI single, and Ralph followed in the sixth by cracking a solo homer. The Knights didn't score otherwise as Taylor made a brilliant diving stop at shortstop and flipped to second for the force out to thwart a potential go-ahead two-run single by Pfaadt to end the seventh.
Pfaadt, Ralph and junior third baseman
Josh Finerty had one hit apiece in the opener. Ralph and junior right fielder
Zac Wiley had three each in the finale. Senior left fielder
Griffin Neuer added two.
Bellarmine is off until the GLVC Tournament, which begins May 10.
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GAME 1 BOX SCORE (HTM)
GAME 2 BOX SCORE (HTM)