SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Parkside baseball finished out its series at No. 5 Illinois-Springfield on Sunday and the home Prairie Stars came away with a pair of wins taking game one in comeback fashion 6-4 and game two 13-1.
 
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In game one, Troy Bittenbender got the Rangers out to a hot start when he blasted a two-run home run to left field to make it 2-0 Parkside in the first inning. After UIS went scoreless the first two innings, they broke through with a two-run third and another run in the fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead.
 
Parkside answered back in the top of the sixth with a two-run inning as Max Widmar drove in Bittenbender with an RBI single and later in the inning, Domenic Hammudeh came home to score on a first and third situation to give the Rangers the 4-3 advantage. UIS came right back however, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 6-4 lead they would not surrender.
 
Bittenbender had a huge game in the opener, going 3-for-3 with a home run, two RBI, two runs and a stolen base. Widmar, Dominic Esposito and Michael Pillizzi each had a hit as well. Connor Cunningham suffered the loss, going all 7.0 innings allowing four earned runs with four strikeouts.
 
Game two was all Prairie Stars, as the host scored one in the first, four in the third and later had a five-run fifth inning.
 
The Green & White will play its final home games of the 2018 season next weekend as Indianapolis comes to town. Saturday will serve as Blue Out Day to bring awareness to Prostate Cancer.