PLYMOUTH, Wis. - The Rockford University baseball team (11-12, 3-9 NACC) earned a hard-fought road split on Saturday afternoon at Lakeland University (15-12, 5-8 NACC). After falling behind 4-0 in the opener, the RU offense scored six straight runs, including a Jake Bilotta two-run home run in the sixth, to take the lead. The RU pitching staff took it the rest of the way, holding the Muskies scoreless over the final seven innings and striking out an incredible 18 batters in the game. The nightcap unfortunately belonged to the Muskies. Lakeland scored thirteen straight runs en route to a 15-4 win in seven innings.


Game 1

• The opener got off to a rocky start with Lakeland scoring two runs in each of the first two innings. Nathan Hemmerling got the scoring started with a leadoff home run. The Muskies would add one more run off an RBI single and take a 2-0 lead after one inning of play. Lakeland then plated a pair of runs off two hits in the second and extended their advantage to 4-0.
• The score remained unchanged until Rockford used a three-run fifth and pulled back within a single run. After back-to-back hit batsmen to start the inning, Jake Bilotta crushed a two-run double to left center and cut the Muskie lead in half. A few batters later, Neil Freeman hit a clutch two-out RBI single back up the middle to score Bilotta and make it a 4-3 ballgame. 
• Rockford then took its first lead of the game in the top of the sixth. The Regents had just one hit in the inning, but it was a two-out, two-run home run off the bat of Jake Bilotta. 
• The RU offense was able to add an insurance run in the top of the ninth. Joseph Stagowski led off the inning with a double and then stole third. Jonathan Leon proceeded to drive in Stagowski on a sacrifice fly, to give the Regents a two-run advantage.
• The Regents' two-run lead turned out to be more than enough for the RU pitching staff. After surrendering four runs in the first two innings, Rockford did not allow a run over the final seven innings. Starting pitcher Jared Herzog tossed the next three innings and struck out seven batters, including striking out the side in both the third and fifth innings. Neil Freeman then came in and threw the next 2.2 innings, including striking out five straight batters starting in the bottom of the seventh. Freeman then turned the game over to Christian Dahlstrom, who got the final out in the eighth and struck out the side in the ninth to preserve the 6-4 win.

Game 2

• Game two got off to the exact opposite start as game one, with Rockford taking an early 2-0 lead. After two quick outs to start the second, the Regents used an Aaron Monti single, a walk and a passed ball to put runners on second and third. Peyton McCray then laced a two-out, two-run single into left, to put Rockford out in front 2-0.
• Unfortunately, Lakeland promptly scored thirteen unanswered runs over the next three innings to seize control of the game. 
• Rockford was able to score single runs in both the fifth and seventh innings to cut into the Muskie lead. In the fifth, Rockford used a combination of a Jake Bilotta double and a Jared Herzog RBI single to score a run. The Regents then scored their run in the seventh off a Jake Bilotta single and a Neil Freeman RBI double.
• However, the Muskies added two more runs of their own in the fifth en route to the 15-4 win. 

Game 1

• Jake Bilotta finished 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, 4 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
• Joseph Stagowski was 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored and a stolen base.
• Neil Freeman went 1-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI and 2 stolen bases. Freeman also came in a tossed 2.2 shutout innings on the mound. He allowed just 1 hit and struck out 5 straight batters starting in the bottom of the seventh. 
• Jared Herzog threw 5 innings to pick up the win and move to 3-3 on the season. Herzog struck out a total of 10 batters, including at least one in every inning.
• Christian Dahlstrom threw the final 1.1 innings to earn his third save this year. Dahlstrom came in and recorded the final out in the eighth and then struck out the side in the ninth.

Game 2

• Jake Bilotta finished 2-for-4 with a double and 2 runs scored.
• Peyton McCray was 1-for-3 with 2 RBIs. 
• Aaron Monti went 2-for-2 with a stolen base.
• Neil Freeman was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a double.

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