AURORA, Ill. - The Rockford University softball team opened the road portion of its conference schedule on Saturday with a trip to the 3-time defending NACC regular season champion Aurora University Spartans. Rockford struggled for much of the afternoon as the Spartans used multiple big innings throughout the day to win both games by final scores of 10-0 and 9-1. 

Rockford was never able to find any offensive rhythm in the opener as the Regents were shutout and held to just one hit. Freshman Makayla Long (Wilmington, Ill.) delivered Rockford's lone hit in game one with a double in the first inning. 

The Spartans took advantage of Rockford's offensive struggles and used a pair of big innings to put the game away. Aurora scored four runs in both the first and third innings en route to a 10-0 win in five innings. 

Game two was very similar to the opener as Aurora again jumped out to early lead and Rockford was never able to recover. The Spartans used a 5-run second inning and then added a pair of runs in both the fourth and fifth to seal a 9-1 victory in five innings.

Offensively the Regents looked better in the second game as they avoided back-to-back shutouts. Again it was Makayla Long who led the charge going 2-for-3 at the plate. The Regents lone run of the day came in the third inning. Following a leadoff walk by Lisa Blakeley-Snyder (Winnebago, Ill.) and a Makayla Long single, senior Brittany Bura (Chicago, Ill.) then drove in her fifth run of the season. Unfortunately Rockford was unable to add any additional runs and dropped their second game of the day.

The RU softball team returns to the field on Sunday, April 10 at Benedictine University. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for noon.