LOVES PARK, Ill. - The Rockford University baseball team (15-22, 6-18 NACC) dropped its final doubleheader of the season to Aurora University (32-7, 21-3 NACC) with a 4-1 opener and a 12-5 nightcap. The Regents had plenty of opportunities in both games but stranded a total of 19 runners on base that cost the Regents on offense.
Jared Herzog had a very good opener on the mound, he finished with seven innings pitched and 14 strikeouts. The Regents baseball program still has a lot to celebrate despite the final results of the season. Hitting,
Neil Freeman tied the school and NACC records for home runs in a single game with three. Fielding,
Ryan Smith set a school record for putouts in a single game with 21. Pitching,
Christian Dahlstrom extended his career record for saves, finishing at 14. Finally, Coach Bob Koopman reached a career milestone, recording his 300th career win as head coach at Rockford University.
Game 1
- After six straight outs to start the game, Aurora opened the scoring in the top of the second with a home run to left field. The Spartans went down in order after but held the lead 1-0.
- Aurora continued to build its lead in the top of the fourth, a double with one runner on base turned into two runs for the Spartans after a costly error allowed them to score and make it 3-0.
- Despite Rockford being unable to get the offense going, Jared Herzog managed to keep the Regents in the game. He eventually finished with seven total innings pitched and 14 strikeouts with only two earned runs allowed.
- AU put up one more run in the top of the seventh, earning a run on a sacrifice fly to center field, making it 4-0.
- The Regents refused to be shutout, however, as a series of singles by Neil Freeman, Jonathan Leon, and Gio Lucchetto scored the first run for Rockford of the game. RU went into the ninth down 4-1.
- Rockford came up in the bottom of the ninth and went down in order, giving Aurora the win in the opener by a final score of 4-1.
Game 2
- The nightcap started out as a battle between the two offenses. Aurora scored a pair of runs off a throwing error to open the game at 2-0.
- Rockford responded in the bottom of the inning. RU got runners on first and second, and Jonathan Leon hit a double to score Jared Herzog from second and put himself and Neil Freeman on second and third. Aaron Monti hit a follow-up double to score both runners and take the lead by a score of 3-2. The Regents could not extend the lead further and headed into the second inning ahead 3-2.
- A walk and two doubles in the second inning gave the lead back to the Spartans, and another double later extended the lead to 5-3. Aurora scored its sixth run in the third inning after a double and a fielding error to extend the lead to 6-3.
- It was a quiet couple of innings until Rockford got a run back in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a single and stolen base by Jonathan Leon, and then a single by Gio Lucchetto to make the score 6-4.
- Aurora got the run back in the next half inning from a passed ball that scored the runner from third to make it 7-4. The lead was within reach for the Regents up until the 8th inning, where the Spartans hit two home runs, a three-run and a two-run, to propel themselves out of reach of RU, up 12-4.
- Rockford came up for last at-bats and were able to load the bases. Unfortunately, all the Regents got was one sacrifice fly run by Neil Freeman before the final out was recorded, giving Aurora the sweep and nightcap victory by a final score of 12-5.
Game 1
- Jared Herzog pitched 7 innings and finished with 14 strikeouts and only gave up 2 earned runs. He also did not walk a single batter.
- Neil Freeman finished 3-for-4 with a double and a run.
- Gio Lucchetto was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Game 2
