LOVES PARK, Ill.- Time and games are running out for the Rockford University baseball team to move up in the NACC conference standings and secure a spot in the conference tournament. The Regents have just six conference games left, with two coming today at home against the Benedictine University Eagles. The Eagles came in a few spots ahead of Rockford in conference with a 10-4 conference record compared to Rockford's 6-8 conference record. Both games were nail biters that were not decided until the last couple of innings.
In game one, Rockford got on the scoreboard early with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Brian Wiest (Lake Zurich, Ill.) started the inning with a single. He was forced out at second on a ground ball by Evan Frantini (Morris, Ill.). Frantini then stole second to put himself in scoring position. A ground out advanced Frantini to third base with two outs. Jacob McKnight (Monroe Center, Ill.) walked to keep the inning going. He then stole second and the Eagles catcher threw the ball down to third in an attempt to pick off Frantini. The throw skipped by into left field and McKnight streaked around the bases to score on the play to put Rockford up 2-0.
Keeping Benedictine's offense in check was freshman starter Adam O'Malley (Elk Grove, Ill.). He threw up zero's until the top of the fourth inning. The Eagles singled to start the inning. The runner later advanced to second on a balk. After a fly out, the runner moved to third on a passed ball. He later came around to score on a two out double to cut Rockford's lead down to one.
The score held until the top of the eighth inning with O'Malley was still pitching at this point. The leadoff runner reached on an error and Rockford went to the bullpen to David Camacho (Elk Grove, Ill.). He got the first batter out on a bunt pop out, but a passed ball and a walk put runners on first and second with just one out. A single to center scored the game tying run. Camacho settled down and induced a ground ball to second, which the Regents turned into an inning ending double play.
Benedictine scored again in the ninth to take a 3-2 lead. A leadoff single, a sacrifice bunt, and another single scored the go ahead run. Camacho struck out the next batter swinging. He then allowed a single and a walk to load the bases with two outs. But he barred down and struck out another batter swinging to end the inning. Unfortunately for the Regents, their offense went down in order in the bottom of the ninth inning and Benedictine took game one 3-2.
O'Malley pitched seven strong innings. He gave up seven hits, two walks, and one earned run. He struck out five batters to receive the no decision.
Game two started slower for the Regents. Benedictine stringed together some hits in the top of the third inning and executed on a couple of hit-and-runs. In total, Benedictine recorded four hits to score four runs in the inning.
Rockford threatened in the bottom half of the frame. Wiest and Frantini singled back-to-back with two outs in the inning. Bobby Barrera (Waukegan, Ill.) followed with a walk to load the bases. Eric Gnippe (Monroe Center, Ill.), who singled in his first at bat of the game, smoked a double down the left field line to clear the bases and put the score at 4-3 Benedictine.
Benedictine tacked on an unearned run in the top of the fourth inning off of Regents reliever Drew Walker (Morris, Ill.), who came on in relief in the top of the third inning. The following inning the Eagles added another unearned run to go ahead 6-3. The Regents answered in the bottom half of the inning.
Senior Connor McHugh (Schaumburg, Ill.) doubled over the right fielders head to open the inning. Wiest singled past the first baseman to score McHugh. Frantini kept things going by reaching base via an Eagle error. Barrera sacrificed both runners up a base to put two in scoring position. Kraemer Brandt (Elk Grove, Ill.) came up clutch with a two out RBI single up the middle. Frantini was thrown out at home to end the inning, but the score now stood at 6-5 in favor of Benedictine.
The Regents defense continued to be shaky in the top of the seventh inning. A fly ball was dropped in the outfield to start the inning. That batter later scored on a single between third and short. Another run, also unearned, crossed the plate with two outs in the inning. The Eagles pushed their lead back to three runs at 8-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Rockford continued to battle back against the Eagles. In the bottom half of the inning Wiest and Frantini both stayed hot with back-to-back singles to start the inning. But Benedictine's pitching came through and struck out the next three batters to end the threat. The score held until the bottom of the eighth inning when the Regents struck back.
Robert Smith (Bartlett, Ill.) tripled with one out to deep left center field. Cole Logemann (Lena, Ill.) followed by crushing his seventh home run of the year over the left field fence to get Rockford within one run. McHugh kept things going with a hard single through the right side of the infield. Wiest continued his amazing hot streak by drilling a double over the center fielders head to score the game tying run.
Frantini walked to put another runner on. Barrera patiently worked a 3-0 count. On the 3-0 pitch, Benedictine's pitcher balked Wiest and Frantini to second and third. The Eagles decided to intentionally walk Barrera, but the pitch tipped off the catcher's glove and Wiest scored the go ahead run on the passed ball. A pop up on a bunt resulted in the Regents doubling themselves out of the inning.
Michael Murray (Princeton, Ill.) came in for the save in the top of the ninth inning. An error on a ground ball allowed the leadoff runner to reach base. The following Eagle batter sacrificed the tying run to second base. Murray then walked the next batter to put the go ahead runner on base with one out. He settled down to strike out the next two batters to end the game and secure a huge 9-8 win for the Regents.
Wiest led the way with four hits in five at bats. He scored three runs and drove in two. Logemann, McHugh, Frantini, and Gnippe all finished with two hits. Logemann had two RBI, Gnippe three, and Brandt recorded one. As a team, Rockford finished with 15 hits and five walks. Four Regent relievers combined to go seven innings and they gave up just one earned run. Nathan Mulzer (Neeha, Wis.) pitched a scoreless eighth inning to pick up his first career win. Murray finished the ninth inning for his first save of the season.
Rockford goes on the road tomorrow for another important conference doubleheader. The Regents travel to Aurora with the first game starting at 4:00 p.m.
