LOVES PARK, Ill. - It was a difficult day for the Rockford University baseball on Monday as the Regents fell 11-5 and 13-2 at the hands of the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons. The Falcons scored early and often in both games and did not allow the Regents to build any type of momentum the entire day. The Concordia offense pounded out 26 hits and 24 runs combined in the two games to secure a sweep of the regular season series.
Game one got off to a rocky start as the Falcons scored in six of the first seven innings to jump out to an 11-0 lead. Although the Falcons never scored more than three runs in any one inning, Concordia Wisconsin put pressure on the Regents all game long putting at least one runner on base in eight of the nine innings, including each of the first seven.
Fortunately the Rockford offense began to catch fire late in the game scoring five runs over the final three innings. The scoring began in the seventh when the Regents broke through for three runs off three hits. Nathan Burris (Oglesby, Ill.) and Bryce Hinkelman (Ottawa, Ill.) got the rally started with a leadoff walk and a single into left field. One batter later, senior Cole Logemann (Lena, Ill.) ripped an RBI double down the left field line to get his team on the board. Patrick O'Malley (Elk Grove, Ill.) and Mitchell Gorsuch (Cherry Valley, Ill.) drove in the final two runs of the inning with an RBI groundout and single to make it an 11-3 game. Rockford would add its final two runs of the game in the bottom of the ninth. Logemann, Gorsuch and Austin Smith (Peru, Ill.) all laced singles into the outfield with Smith driving in Logemann for Rockford's first run of the inning. The Regents final run came courtesy of a Falcon error, but it was not enough as the Falcons took game one 11-5.
Logemann and Gorsuch both had excellent performances at the plate in the opener. Logemann went 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored, while Gorsuch was 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
Game two got off to a similar start as the opener with Rockford falling behind early and being forced to try and play catch-up the entire game. The Falcons scored three in the first, three in the second and five unearned runs in the third to jump out to a commanding 11-0 lead. Rockford was never really able to get back into the game as the Regents scored just two runs in the runs in the fifth before the Falcons responded with two runs of their own in the eighth to secure a 13-2 win.
Rockford's two-run fifth inning came courtesy of three Regent hits. Cole Logemann and Corey Saracco (Montgomery, Ill.) started the rally with singles to give the Regents runners on the corners with just one out. Kyle Rothrock (Utica, Ill.) used an RBI groundout to drive in the Regents' first run of the game. Rockford's other run came off the bat of Seth Sanderson (Fulton, Ill.) who drove in Saracco with an RBI single through the right side of the infield.
Offensively in game two the Regents were led by Cole Logemann and Josh Bergbreiter (Elk Grove, Ill.). Logemann went 2-for-4 with a triple and a run scored, while Bergbreiter was 2-for-3.
The Rockford University baseball team returns to the diamond on Tuesday, April 18 at North Central College. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
