Sheboygan, Wis. - Today the Rockford College Regents and Lakeland College Muskies played the second game of the doubleheader that the two teams started earlier in the week. Rockford took game one by a final of 11-5 on Tuesday before rain washed out game two. The Regents did not seem to be bothered by a second trip to Lakeland College this week as they picked up right where they left off winning game two 17-6. The win puts Rockford just one game out of first place in the Northern Athletics Conference.
The Rockford offense took control of the game early and did not let up scoring at least three runs in five different innings. Freshman third baseman Cole Logemann (Lena, Ill./Lena-Winslow) put himself into scoring position with a one-out double into left center. Following a hit batsman and a flyout, catcher Terry Wiltshire (Elizabeth, Ill./River Ridge) gave Rockford the lead with a two-out two-run double into left center. Wiltshire scored one batter later off the combination of a Matt Grimes (O'Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) single and a Muskie error giving the Regents a 3-0 lead after a half inning of play. Rockford kept its momentum going by tacking on four more runs in the top of the second to extend its lead. Adrian Gameros (Rialto, Calif./Carter) drove in the first run of the inning with single into the outfield. Two batters later, senior Daryn Streed (Belvidere, Ill./North) blasted a 3-run home run over the center field wall to give the Regents a 7-0. The Muskies were not willing to surrender just yet as they answered right back scoring the next five runs cutting the Rockford lead down to just 7-5. Following a scoreless fourth inning the Regents got three of the five runs back. With runners on second and third, Jacob Gorsuch (Cherry Valley, Ill./Jefferson) drove in the first run of the inning off an RBI single and the Regents scored their other two runs off a Lakeland error. One inning later Rockford essentially sealed the game when it scored four more runs. Grimes, Gameros and Scott Swiderek (Chicago, Ill./Walter Lutheran) each delivered an RBI single while Gorsuch smashed an RBI double and Rockford took a 14-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning. Streed basically ended the game in the top of the eighth when he crushed his second 3-run home run of the game as the Regents defeated the Muskies 17-6.
Rockford used a pair of pitchers to defeat Lakeland on Friday. Starter Zach Liberatore (Plainfield, Ill./Central) threw three innings in his third start this season. Liberatore gave up 5 runs but just two of them were earned. Senior Sean Gillette (Sterling, Ill./Sterling) took over in the fourth and tossed the final five innings of the game. Gillette gave the Regents 5 solid innings on the mound giving up just one run to earn his second win of the year. The senior was in control on the hill the entire time issuing 0 walks and striking out one.
The baseball team returns to action on Saturday, April 27th when it will travel to Milwaukee to play Wisconsin Lutheran College. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for noon.
