Indy Standard

Baseball Wins Midwest Super Regional With Two Victories On Saturday Over Quincy

With one swing of the bat, Zion Pettigrew turned momentum in the 2022 NCAA Midwest Super Regional towards the University of Illinois Springfield baseball team. The Prairie Stars never looked back as it defeated Quincy by scores of 10-4 and 10-8 to capture the Super Regional Championship, and earn a spot in Cary, N.C.

Quincy jumped out to a 3-0 after two innings of game one, and looked to be one out away from ending a UIS rally. Pettigrew swung on a 0-1 pitch though and hit an opposite field home run to right to tie the score. Two batters later, Youngquist homered and UIS never trailed again in the game.

In the fifth, UIS loaded the bases with no outs, and two runs eventually scored on a groundout and an Anthony Deconcilis single. Quincy got one back in the bottom of the fifth, but UIS still led 7-4.

Colton Hale started for the Prairie Stars and went five innings. He allowed six hits and four runs, two of which were earned. Mason Coon entered in the sixth and shut the Hawks down for the next three innings. He allowed just two hits and a walk, and he struck out four.

Coon's performance helped UIS eventually build a 10-4 advantage, and that would end up being the final margin of victory. Hale earned his 12th win of the season, tying a UIS single-season record.

Youngquist hit two homers in the game and finished with four RBI and two runs. Pettigrew had three RBI and scored twice, and Brant Vanaman had a homer and two runs.

The second game started out as a pitcher's duel, but eventually turned into a wild offensive finish.

Cameron Zunkel earned the start and went four innings, allowing just three hits and one run. In the third, Quincy got its first two on, and a groundout and sacrifice fly plated the first run of the game. UIS quickly responded, taking advantage of a Quincy error to score two unearned runs in the bottom half of that inning.

UIS added three more runs in the next two innings, and would take a 5-1 lead into the top of the seventh. Both offenses came alive at that point. Quincy scored a pair in the seventh, and UIS got one back in the bottom half of the inning.

With the Prairie Stars up 6-3, Quincy scored two more in the eighth and had runners at third and first with one out. Blake Begner struck out back-to-back batters to end the inning.

In the UIS eighth, the Prairie Stars added four insurance runners. Brandon Bannon started the rally with a two-run home, and it was followed by home runs from Pettigrew and Youngquist.

UIS would need those insurance runs after Quincy had a three-run homer in the ninth. Two more Hawks got on base bringing the go-ahead run up to the plate. Begner got him to hit a grounder to first, where Youngquist fielded it cleanly and stepped on first to give UIS its first trip to the national championships.

Offensively in game two, UIS was led by Bannon who finished with three hits, three RBI, and two runs. Asher Bradd and Youngquist also scored twice. Pettigrew had two extra-base hits, and finished Super Regional play by going five-for-10 with three doubles and two homers. Youngquist also had two extra-base hits, and Hunter Phelps had a pair of singles.

UIS set a new school record with its 48th win of the season, breaking the 2018 team which went 47-9 on the year. The Prairie Stars will take a 48-9 record to Cary, and that bracket will be announced later this weekend.

Original source can be found here.