VERONA, Wis.- Wednesday night saw the Rockford University baseball team return to the field for the second of three conference doubleheaders this week. The Regents crossed the border into Wisconsin to play the Edgewood College Eagles. The Eagles came in with a 1-1 conference record and a 4-9 overall record. Rockford looked to build off of two wins yesterday against Dominican, in which the Regents outscored Dominican 17-0.
In game one the Eagles jumped out to an early 4-0 lead off of Regent starter Thomas Bolen (Tucson, Ariz.) by scoring two runs in the first inning and two runs in the second inning. Rockford got on the board in the fourth inning when Nick Naber (Rockford, Ill.) came around to score on a fielding error. Edgewood answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the frame.
Rockford scored single runs in the fifth and seventh innings. Robert Smith (Bartlett, Ill.) doubled to start the fifth inning and came around to score after the next batter, Cole Logemann (Lena, Ill.), singled to left.
In the seventh inning it was Smith and Logemann again setting up the scoring for Rockford. Smith reached base to start the inning after getting hit by a pitch. Logemann singled to left to put two men on with no outs. After a strike out and wild pitch, Kevin Robinson (Schaumburg, Ill.) hit a sacrifice fly to score Smith and put the score at 5-3 Edgewood. But Edgewood answered with four runs in the bottom half of the inning to steal all of the momentum. The Eagles went on to win 9-3.
Logemann finished 2-for-4 with a walk and RBI. Smith went 1-for-4 with two runs. Bolen pitched 6 and 2/3 innings in the loss. He gave up six hits, three walks, and five earned runs. He also struck out five batters.
Game two featured a much closer battle, but it was another game that did not end in Rockford's favor. Edgewood again got on the board first again, this time with three runs in the first off of Rockford's starting pitcher David Camacho (Elk Grove, Ill.), who was making his first career start. Rockford cut Edgewood's lead by a third in the top of the third inning thanks to a RBI double by Naber. Logemann, who doubled before Naber, came around to score on the hit.
Edgewood scored two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to put the score at 5-1 Eagles. All was quiet until the top of the eighth inning. Naber led off with a single and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch. Despite getting two men on in the top of the ninth inning, Rockford could get no closer to Edgewood and lost 5-2.
Naber finished 3-for-5 with two doubles, a run, and a RBI. Bobby Barrera (Waukegan, Ill.) also had three hits. Logemann finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run. Rockford's bullpen combined to go four innings, allowing one hit, no runs, and struck out seven batters. Rockford did not walk a batter for the game.
The Regents return home for a conference doubleheader against Concordia Chicago at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday.
