RIVER FOREST, Ill. - The RU softball team concluded its four game road trip on Saturday with a pair games against the Dominican University Stars. Rockford knew it would be an uphill battle to knock off the Stars as they entered Saturday with a 19-7 overall record and were tied for fourth with a 7-3 NACC mark. The Regents gave the Stars all they could handle for most of the day as they played perhaps their best softball of the season. Unfortunately, Rockford came out on the wrong end of the scoreboard in both games falling 4-0 and 5-4 to Dominican.
Game one was all about pitching as there were a total of just four combined runs scored. Rockford senior Sarah Moritz (Heyworth, Ill.) once again took the tough-luck loss as she got no run support from her offense. Moritz tossed her team-leading sixth complete game of the season. The senior gave up just four runs while striking out a season-high six batters and walking none.
Offensively Rockford was shutout for the eighth time this season and recorded just two hits. Alexandra Storey (Dexter, Mich.) and Brittany Bura (Chicago, Ill.) each went 1-for-3 to account for the Regents' two hits.
The second game had a much different feel to it as Rockford played very well and led for large portions of the game. After Dominican took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Rockford answered with a 3-run top of the second to grab its first lead of the day. Sophomore Ali Moore (Mascoutah, Ill.) got the big inning started with a one-out infield single. One batter later, Mercedes Boykin (Belvidere, Ill.) tied the game at 1-1 when she ripped an RBI double into left field scoring Moore. Following a fly out, Alexandra Storey crushed two-out RBI double of her own scoring Boykin and giving the Regents their first lead of the day. Rockford added one more run off a Lisa Blakeley-Snyder (Winnebago, Ill.) single to take a 3-1 advantage after 2 innings of play.
The Stars would continually chip away at the lead over the next couple of innings. Dominican scored single runs in both the third and fourth innings to tie the game at 3-3. The game remained tied in the bottom of the sixth when it appeared as though the Stars were going to retake the lead following a leadoff double. However, the Regents made a pitching change bringing Sarah Moritz into the game. Moritz did a phenomenal job getting out of the jam with a foul out, strike out and fly out to keep the game tied entering the seventh inning.
The seventh inning got off to a good start for Rockford as Lisa Blakeley-Snyder tallied her third hit of the game with a one-out infield single. Following a strikeout, the Regents strung together back-to-back two-out singles to take the lead. First it was senior Maranda Walker (Rockford, Ill.) who crushed a single into right field for her second hit of the game. Then freshman Sarah Rizzo (Monee, Ill.) laced a single of her own through the left side of the infield as the Regents retook the lead at 4-3 entering the bottom of the seventh inning.
Unfortunately it was Dominican who scored the final two runs of the game. The Stars used 3 hits and took advantage of a Rockford error in the bottom of the seventh scoring a pair of runs and securing the 5-4 win.
The softball team returns to the field tomorrow at home against Concordia University Chicago. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for noon at the Smith Athletic Field.
