MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Rockford College baseball team continued its push for a bid in the Northern Atheltics Conference Tournament with a sweep over the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders on Saturday. The Regents used a pair of stellar pitching performances to sweep the Raiders 7-1 and 3-1. Rockford is now 17-3 against MSOE including a perfect 12-0 record since joining the Northern Athletics Conference.
Senior starting pitcher Zac Wolf (LaSalle, Ill./LaSalle-Peru) turned in his best pitching performance of the season on Wednesday. Wolf gave Rockford 8 solid innings on the mound giving up just one run while scattering 7 hits. The senior tied his season-high with 5 strikeouts and issued 0 walks. After surrendering a few hits early Wolf really got into a grove in the middle innings when he retired 10 consecutive batters before giving up a hit with one out in the eighth. Sophomore Michael Kiviranta (Schaumburg, Ill./Hoffman Estates) pitched a near perfect ninth to secure the 7-1 win.
Offensively Rockford got on the board early and never looked back. The Regents got out to a fast 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a trio of doubles from Joe Rigg (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg), Cole Logemann (Lena, Ill./Lena-Winslow) and Daryn Streed (Belvidere, Ill./North). Rockford added another run in the third this time it was a Chris Senn (Apple Valley, Calif./Silverado) double that allowed Logemann to score and extend the Regent lead. Following a Streed double in the sixth, Terry Wiltshire (Elizabeth, Ill./River Ridge) ripped an RBI single to make it a 4-1 game. Rockford scored three more runs in the eighth to put the game away. Matt Grimes (O'Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) and Jacob Gorsuch (Cherry Valley, Ill./Jefferson) each recorded RBI singles and Joe Campe (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) drove in the other run on an RBI groundout.
The nightcap was a mirror image on the mound for the Regents. Starting pitcher Kyle Pisano (Chicago, Ill./LaSalle-Peru) was once again brilliant for Rockford. Pisano gave up just 2 hits over his 6 shutout innings of work. The junior struck out 5 Raiders and retired the final 11 batters he faced before turning the game over to the bullpen. Fellow junior Kaleb Rich (Washington, Iowa/Washington) tossed the final 3 innings on Wednesday. Rich also gave up 2 hits and surrendered 0 earned runs to pick up his first collegiate save.
The Rockfod offense was not quite as potent in the second game, but was able to score enough runs in support of its pitching staff. Rockford took the lead in the second inning when catcher Chris Holke (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) manufactured a run. After being hit by a pitch, Holke moved up to second on a wild pitch, then moved up to third on another wild pitch, and scored on an RBI groundout by Scott Swiderek (Chicago, Ill./Walter Lutheran). Rockford pushed its lead to 2-0 in the top of the third off a Daryn Streed single and an MSOE error. The Regents tacked on one more insurance run in the top of the eighth after the Raiders cut into the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Following a Streed walk and a Senn single, Grimes delivered an RBI single propelling Rockford to a 3-1 win and a sweep.
