SOMERS, Wis. -- Wisconsin-Parkside got seven strong innings from starter Nate Stolte in game one, but Illinois Springfield rallied to win the opener 7-2 and completed the sweep with an 8-1 win in game two in a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader on Saturday at Oberbrunner Field.

Stolte, who lowered his team-leading earned run average to 1.64, went 7.0 innings and allowed just two hits and one run while striking out six batters. He departed the game with the Rangers leading 2-1, but the Prairie Stars rallied for six runs over the final two innings to claim the victory.

The Rangers, who dropped to 15-17 overall and 9-9 in the GLVC, opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning of the opener. Kyle Schulz opened the inning with a walk and advanced to third when Zach Thompson lined a single to rightfield. Schulz came in to score the first run of the game when Kyohei Makita hit an RBI groundout.

Wisconsin-Parkside had runners on first and second with one out in the first after Jake Kolasinski walked, but a fly out and a groundout ended the threat.

The Rangers upped the lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning. Makita hit a one-out single to begin the rally and stole second base to move into scoring position. Nick Janssen singled to left and Makita advanced to third and was awarded home plate on an interference call.

Wisconsin-Parkside had an opportunity to stretch the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, but came up empty. Troy Bittenbender doubled to left centerfield to open the frame and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Trent Muscat. Andrew Luscomb was hit by a pitch and stole second base and Bryan Wade drew a walk to load the bases with one out, but Illinois Springfield starter Ethan Howard induced a double-play grounder to get out of the inning.

Stolte worked out of a jam in the second inning but sailed through the middle innings until Ben Schanding led off the seventh inning with a home run to cut the lead to 2-1. Stolte worked out of the inning with two groundouts and a lineout to leave with a lead.

Illinois Springfield, which improved to 24-15 overall and 13-5 in league play, touched the Rangers for four runs in the top of the eighth inning and tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth inning to claim the 7-2 win.

Game two of the doubleheader belonged to Illinois Springfield starter Cameron Zunkel who came within one out of pitching a no-hitter. With two down in the bottom of the seventh inning, Max Widmar lined a clean single to left to break up the no-hit bid and the Rangers scored a run after Janssen singled to left and Domenic Hammudeh doubled to right centerfield to score Widmar.

Ranger starter Mario Samuel recorded 11 strikeouts on the afternoon, which is his second-highest total in his career. He struck out a career-high 13 batters against McKendree in 2014.

The two teams will conclude the four-game series with a doubleheader on Sunday (April 23) beginning at 12 p.m. at Oberbrunner Field.