SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - The Rockford University baseball team split a doubleheader with Lakeland College on Sunday. The Regents dropped the opener by a 9-5 final but bounced back to win game two 3-0. Despite the split, Rockford is just one game out of the sixth place and final NACC Tournament spot.
After falling behind 1-0 at the end of the first inning, Rockford briefly took the lead with a 2-run third inning. Junior Cole Logemann (Lena, Ill.) led off the inning with a single into left field before Connor McHugh (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) stroked a RBI double into right center scoring Logemann and tie the game at 1-1. Two batters later, Brian Wiest (Lake Zurich, Ill.) followed suit with an RBI double of his own to give Rockford its only lead of the game at 2-1. Unfortunately the lead did not last long as Lakeland answered with 4 runs off 7 hits in the bottom half of the inning to retake the lead.
The Regents would add a run in the sixth and two more in the eighth inning. In the sixth it was a leadoff double by Brian Wiest that helped to jumpstart the Rockford offense. Wiest would score four batters latter on an RBI groundout to cut the Lakeland lead down to 6-3. However, just like in the third the Muskies answered with 3 runs in the bottom of the half of the inning to push its lead to a game-high 6 runs. In the eighth it was once again Brian Wiest who led off the inning with a double. One batter later, pinch hitter Jacob McKnight (Monroe Center, Ill.) drove in Wiest with an RBI single. Following a Bobby Barrera (Waukegan, Ill.) single, Britton Seivert (Rockford, Ill.) used an RBI groundout to score McKnight. Unfortunately, Rockford was unable to score any additional runs and thus dropped game one 9-5 to Lakeland.
Despite the loss in the opener, senior Brian Wiest had a game for the ages on Saturday. Wiest went an impressive 5-for-5 at the plate with an astounding 4 doubles. His four double performance broke the Rockford University single-game record of 3 doubles which was first set 35 years ago. At the conclusion of Saturday's games Wiest now has 16 doubles this year, which is just 5 behind the single-season doubles record of 21 set back in 2009 by Chris Brockman.
After the loss in game one, game two became a must-win situation for the Regents. Fortunately for Rockford, it got an outstanding pitching performance from sophomore David Camacho (Elk Grove, Ill.). Camacho was simply brilliant on the mound as he tossed the first complete game shutout of his collegiate career. The right-hander had the Muskies off balance all day as he surrendered just 4 hits while striking out a career-high 9 and walking none.
Rockford tallied a run in the top of the first to jump out to a quick 1-0 lead. Following a hit batsman and passed ball, Connor McHugh drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single back up the middle. Wiest then kept the inning alive with his fifth double of the day putting runners on second and third with just one out. Unfortunately though Rockford was unable to score as neither of the next two batters were able to put the ball in play.
The Regents would add a run in the sixth and one more in the eighth en route to their 3-0 win. In the sixth it was the duo of Evan Frantini (Morris, Ill.) and Eric Gnippe (Hinsdale, Ill.) that accounted for Rockford's run. Frantini began the inning with a leadoff single and two batters later scored off an Eric Gnippe RBI double. In the eighth the Regents strung together back-to-back-to-back two-out singles to score the final run of the game. Following singles by Bobby Barrera and Jacob McKnight, it was again Eric Gnippe who came through with the clutch hit scoring Barrera and giving Rockford the 3-0 win.
The Rockford University baseball team returns to diamond on Sunday, April 19 at home against MSOE. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. at Aviators Stadium.
