Men's Baseball: UIS baseball earns #1 seed in GLVC Tournament

The No. 4 University of Illinois Springfield baseball team earned the top seed from the Green Division in this week's GLVC Tournament.

This is the fifth consecutive appearance, and sixth overall, for the Prairie Stars who open the double-elimination tournament Thursday against Lewis in Saint Charles, Mo. The Stars are looking for their first conference title. UIS completed the regular season Saturday with a 34-5 record, the second best winning percentage in program history. The team won all 10 weekend series this season. Sunday's game hosting Quincy was canceled due to rain.

This story aired on WICS Newschannel 20 on May 9, 2021.

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Men's Baseball: No. 6 UIS baseball clinches GLVC Green Division regular season title

The No. 6 University of Illinois Springfield baseball team clinched the Great Lakes Valley Conference Green Division regular season title after a 22-0 blowout hosting William Jewell Sunday.

The University of Illinois Springfield baseball team is familiar with winning. The team has won 32 games and only lost four during the 2021 season. Head coach Ryan Copeland describes his squad as tough.

“We have a really talented group," Copeland said. "We knew that last year. We’ve had it rolling here for a few years now. This group is extremely tough and they play hard. They’re resilient. We get down in games and it never seems to matter. They always find a way to come back.”

The Prairie Stars have not only battled their opponent, but also the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this season the team had to pause competition for COVID-19 protocols.

“You can’t be a normal college kid right now," Copeland said. "You just can’t. We have a really good group, a veteran group that has prioritized our program and playing. I think that’s why we’re in the spot we’re in.”

This story aired on WICS Newschannel 20 on May 2, 2021. 

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Men's Baseball: UIS sweeps doubleheader against Lewis

No. 14-ranked University of Illinois Springfield improved to 10-2 overall with two victories on Sunday at UIS Baseball Field, winning Game 1 by a score of 13-5 and the second game 10-8, over Great Lakes Valley Conference opponent Lewis University.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on March 21, 2021.

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GLVC postpones soccer, volleyball seasons

The University of Illinois Springfield’s soccer and volleyball seasons have been postponed until the second semester due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Great Lakes Valley Conference’s Council of Presidents voted to postpone the majority of its fall sports “based on guidance from the league’s athletics directors and an extensive review of the recommended testing and safety measures developed by the NCAA Sports Science Institute,” according to the GLVC’s announcement on Monday.

Football was also postponed in the GLVC. Each of the fall sports affected — football, men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball — were determined high risk by the NCAA Sport Science Institute, based on a consensus by the NCAA COVID-19 Advisory Panel and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine COVID-19 Working Group.

Student-athletes may still train outside of the playing season beginning Sept. 7 or on the fourth day of classes for the fall term under the NCAA’s countable athletic related activities (CARA) rules.

UIS athletic director Peyton Deterding, who started his first day on Dec. 9, said student-athletes are expected to arrive on campus with the rest of the student body on Aug. 24.

“We are looking at ways to still provide meaningful opportunities for student-athletes and one of those is they come back to campus,” Deterding said. “Obviously some have been away from their sport for a little bit of time, so we’re looking for ways to continue with practices and strength and conditioning in a safe environment. If we can do it in a safe environment, it allows us to build some team camaraderie and team unity and get them back to playing sports.”

UIS’ opening soccer games were scheduled Sept. 6, after their schedules — featuring only conference games — were released in June. The UIS volleyball team was also set to open the year Sept. 3.

Cross country, however, was determined medium risk and will still be permitted to compete this fall with the GLVC meet scheduled for Oct. 24. The UIS cross country teams are slated to begin with a home meet Sept. 4 but that may change, according to Deterding.

Golf and tennis, each judged low risk, will also be allowed to compete in their non-championship segments in the fall and continue their season into the spring when their respective championship seasons begin.

Baseball and softball — considered medium risk — will be permitted to have only intrasquad competition on campus in the fall.

The GLVC said in its press release that it has established Oct. 1 as the deadline to determine the competition start date for men’s and women’s basketball, each considered high risk.

This article appeared in The State Journal-Register on July 27, 2020.

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Men's Baseball: Jensen gets UIS baseball sportsmanship nod

Brayden Jensen, a senior pitcher for the University of Illinois Springfield baseball team, was named that team’s Great Lakes Valley Conference James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honoree.

Each team in the GLVC selected one player who distinguished himself through sportsmanship and “ethical behavior” throughout the coronavirus-shortened season. The honorees must also be in “good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting,” according to the GLVC press release on Monday.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on May 13, 2020.

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Men's Baseball: UIS ties D-II’s grand slam record

Austin Alderman hit the ninth grand slam of the still-early University of Illinois Springfield baseball season as the Prairie Stars tied an NCAA Division II record in a 13-7 win over McKendree on Wednesday at the UIS Baseball Field.

On Wednesday, Brandon Bannon hit a fifth-inning grand slam to give the Prairie Stars (10-4) eight. Alderman came to bat in the seventh inning in a tie 7-7 game and he untied it with his third bases loaded home run this season.

Two batters later, Chris Mathieu hit a two-run homer. Bobby Bernard was 3-for-4 with a run.

UIS used nine different pitchers with only starter Brayden Jensen in for more than an inning. Cameron Leff got the win.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on March 11, 2020.

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Men's Baseball: UIS sweeps Purdue Northwest

The University of Illinois Springfield baseball team kicked off its home stand with a three-game sweep against Purdue Northwest.

The Prairie Stars dominated Sunday’s doubleheader, defeating the Pride 8-1 in Game 1 and 17-3 in Game 2. UIS rallied to a 4-1 lead with four runs in the fourth inning and added four more runs in the sixth in the opener.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on March 1, 2020.

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Men's Baseball: UIS crushes Newman in season-opener

Chris Monroe, Kal Youngquist and Zion Pettigrew each hit home runs and combined for 11 RBIs to lead the University of Illinois Springfield baseball team to a season-opening 17-2 victory over Newman on Saturday.

UIS led 3-2 after five innings and then scored seven runs each in the seventh and eighth innings. Bobby Barnard went 3-for-4, drove in five runs and scored twice for the Prairie Stars.

This article appeared in The State Journal-Register on Feb. 15, 2020.

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Former UIS baseball player John Sechen signs with Rockies

One of the top players in University of Illinois Springfield baseball history has earned his shot at the professional level. John Sechen signed a free agent contract with the Colorado Rockies organizations on Thursday.

Sechen was a member of the UIS baseball program from 2016-19, and was a three-time all-GLVC selection. He is the school’s career leader with 156 runs, a .485 on-base percentage, nine triples, 115 walks, 40 stolen bases, and 37 hit-by-pitches.

In 2018 and 2019, UIS won one GLVC regular season championship, advanced to two GLVC Tournaments, including being finalist in 2019, hosted two NCAA Regional Tournaments, and advanced to last year’s NCAA Division II Super Regional.

Sechen is the third Prairie Stars player to sign with a MLB affiliate over the last two years, including Andrew Dean being selected 18th in the 2019 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres.

This story appeared on WICS Newschannel 20 on January 31, 2020.

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Men's Baseball: UIS baseball picked fifth in GLVC preseason coaches poll

The University of Illinois Springfield baseball team was picked to finish fifth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s preseason coaches poll that was released on Tuesday.

UIS, which will be led by first-year coach Ryan Copeland, received 169 points in the poll.

The Prairie Stars finished one-game back of the GLVC title and appeared in the NCAA Division II super regionals last season. UIS won the league’s regular season championship in 2018.

The Prairie Stars have had the top offense in the GLVC the past three seasons and return all-conference position players in Chris Monroe, Brandon Bannon and Ruben Markham. Cameron Zunkel and Colton Hale, all-conference pitchers from 2018, also return to the team. Pitchers Jordan Mikel and Evan Snyder are Division I transfers expected to compete for innings.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on January 28, 2020.

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UIS promotes Copeland to head coach for baseball

University of Illinois Springfield promoted assistant baseball coach Ryan Copeland to the head job Friday.

Copeland, who has been the Prairie Stars pitching coach and recruiting coordinator for the past four seasons, replaces Chris Ramirez, who went 199-121 in six seasons and was the Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2018.

Ramirez left to become the head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina after the Stars reached the NCAA Division II super regionals for the first time in school history.

"It is a tremendous honor to be named the next head coach at the University of Illinois Springfield," said Copeland in a press release. "Over the last four years, I have seen the remarkable progress that has been made. Our players will continue to be held to the highest standard, not just on the field, but in the classroom and in the community."

This story appeared in the State Journal-Register on June 15, 2019.

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UIS Baseball: UIS finishes 14th in final NCBWA poll

The University of Illinois Springfield was ranked No. 14 in the final National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II baseball poll.

The Prairie Stars won a regional title and lost to Ashland in the super regional.

UIS finished 41-17-1.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on June 13, 2019.

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Men's Baseball: UIS senior pitcher Andrew Dean drafted by San Diego Padres in the 18th round

The top pitcher in University of Illinois Springfield baseball history became the first Prairie Stars player selected in the Major League Baseball draft on Wednesday.

Andrew Dean heard his name called by the San Diego Padres in the 18th round.

Dean went 12-0 this past season and had a 2.77 ERA. He struck outs 118 batters in 91 innings, and opponents hit just .217 off of him. He was the GLVC Pitcher of the Year, and the first Prairie Stars pitcher to earn All-American accolades.

Dean was the first baseball player from the GLVC selected in this year’s baseball draft. He will become the second UIS player to sign with a MLB organization, joining Cole Taylor who signed as a free agent last year with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

This story aired on WICS Newschannel 20 on June 5, 2019.

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Men's Baseball: UIS bows out to Ashland in NCAA Division II Super-Regional

Ashland University’s Sam Hawley scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Eagles defeated the University of Illinois Springfield 8-7 Saturday in Game 3 of the best-of-three series at the NCAA Division II Midwest Super-Regional baseball tournament at Donges Field.

UIS, the No. 2 seed, and playing in its first super-regional tournament, ended the season 41-17-1.

UIS pitcher R.D. Lutze (1-1) took the loss.

The back-and-forth game had five different lead changes. UIS trailed 7-6 and then tied the game when Nick Mayerhofer singled in Brandon Bannon with one out in the top-half of the seventh. Bannon went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI, and teammates Zach Speaker and Chris Mathieu both doubled and had two hits apiece.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on May 25, 2019.

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UIS overpowers Drury en route to first NCAA baseball regional title

Despite being the higher-seeded team and playing in its home city on Saturday, the University of Illinois Springfield baseball team was the visitor on the scoreboard at Robin Roberts Stadium.

So the Prairie Stars made the most of their first cuts, belting two home runs and giving starting pitcher Brock Immke a 3-0 cushion going into the bottom of the first.

Immke held Drury scoreless through the first four innings as UIS went on to take a 11-5 win for its first NCAA Division II Regional championship.

“That’s the positive thing about being (visitors),” said Immke, a redshirt senior who came back from Tommy John surgery two years ago. “You can go out there and score first and get a little of the anxiety taken care of, take the edge off of a championship game. Three runs in the first inning makes everyone feel loose and more relaxed.”

Chris Monroe and Zach Speaker hit back-to-back homers in the first, with Monroe’s a two-run shot.

UIS coach Chris Ramirez said this year’s team had a tough act to follow after last year’s record-setting 47-9 finish. But the 2018 Prairie Stars fell short of advancing from regional play.

“Early on, you couldn’t do anything but compare us to last year’s team,” Ramirez said. “But for this year’s team to fall out of the rankings and then get back in, it says a lot about them. “We deserve to be where we’re at now. I’m happy for our guys. they deserve it.”

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on May 18, 2019.

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Men's Baseball: UIS baseball to host NCAA regional again despite loss

The University of Illinois Springfield baseball team came up just a run shy of the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament championship Sunday.

The Stars did get a consolation prize later in the night, though. UIS earned the No. 2 seed and for the second straight year home field advantage in the NCAA Division II double-elimination regional tournament, which will be hosted at Robin Roberts Stadium starting Thursday through Saturday.

UIS will start the first round against No. 7 Drury.

UIS made its first NCAA tournament appearance last season, losing a game shy of the regional championship round at Robin Roberts Stadium.

This story was published in The State Journal-Register on May 12, 2019.

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Men's Baseball: Dean named GLVC Pitcher of the Year

University of Illinois Springfield senior Andrew Dean was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year on Wednesday.

Dean led the conference in wins with a 9-0 record. He finished the regular season with a 2.75 ERA.

Dean recorded 95 strikeouts in 72 innings pitched, walking 20 batters and giving up just one home run.

Opponents batted .217 this season off Dean, who was also a first-team GLVC member last season. 

Six other players from UIS were named to the all-GLVC team. Chris Monroe and Justin Revels made the first team, while Brandon Bannon, Ruben Markham, John Sechen and Zach Speaker were named to the second team.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on May 8, 2019.

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Men's Baseball: UIS baseball picks up 13th straight win to keep pace in GLVC race

University of Illinois Springfield starting pitcher Justin Revels had never been ejected in his career. 

That is until Senior Day of all games.

It will make a fun story to tell for days to come after Revels and the Stars overcame a series of contentious calls in their 3-2 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over University of Indianapolis on a brisk Sunday afternoon at UIS Baseball Field.

“That’s definitely something I won’t ever forget,” Revels said of the regular season home finale. “Good thing it happened later in the game in the seventh inning. I knew my team was going to have my back. “I pitch with a lot of emotion as you can see and out of all of the things I’ve done on the mound, I’ve actually never been tossed. It’s kind of crazy. It’s a first for everything.”

Revels, who was a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association NCAA Division II pre-season All-American, fanned eight and gave up just one run and five hits.

"He’s as competitive of a player as I’ve ever coached and you saw that today,” UIS coach Chris Ramirez said of Revels. “He’s out there fighting every pitch, competing. The emotions probably got the best of him at the end and he got ejected, which was unfortunate. But then we went to Nick Alvarado at the end for a two-inning save. “That’s a big win against a good team and we’re getting to the end of the season. It felt like a playoff game and we’re starting to get that environment and it’s starting to feel like postseason, so it makes it fun.”

The Stars earned their first NCAA Division II tournament appearance after putting together a 29-game winning streak towards the end of the regular season in 2018.

“The Stars are definitely hot right now,” said Revels, who has a 2.88 ERA. “I think as a whole, we’re coming together really well. No one’s getting down on someone else doing bad. Everyone’s picking each other up and we’re making plays in the field and we’re hitting and scoring a lot of runs.”

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on April 28, 2019.

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Men's Baseball: UIS wins 10th straight with doubleheader sweep over UMSL

The University of Illinois Springfield baseball team extended its winning streak to a season-best 10 games on Tuesday.

The Prairie Stars swept a doubleheader at the UIS Baseball Field over Missouri-St. Louis by scores of 12-0 and 4-3.

One of the nation’s leaders in runs score, John Sechen, set the tone early in both games.

In the opener, he hit a leadoff homer in the first which sparked the team to grabbing a dominant 11-0 lead after three innings. In the second game, he scored twice in the first two innings as UIS took an early 4-1 lead.

That proved to be just enough as the Prairie Stars held off a late Missouri-St. Louis rally.

This story aired on WICS Newschannel 20 on April 23, 2019.

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Men's Baseball: UIS baseball wins in extra innings

Chris Monroe singled in John Sechen with the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th inning and the University of Illinois Springfield baseball team added two more runs to record a 9-6 baseball win on Wednesday over Missouri-St. Louis.

Sechen started the 11th with a walk and reached second on a passed ball. He went to third on a sacrifice bunt before Monroe drove him home. Sechen scored two runs and Zach Speaker went 2-for-2 with two RBIs.

Brandon Bannon had a solo home run for UIS, which improved to 25-11-1.

The Prairie Stars led 6-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth when Missouri St. Louis tied the game to send it to extra innings. Brayden Jensen pitched two innings for the win and Trent Sidwell closed out the 11th to earn the save.

UIS used nine pitchers and posted 16 strikeouts.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on April 17, 2019.

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