SCHAUMBURG, Ill. - The Rockford University baseball team earned its first road NACC sweep of the season on Saturday afternoon against Dominican University. The Regents were finally able to put together two solid all-around performances in the same doubleheader. The RU offense pounded out a combined 20 runs and 32 hits, including a season-high 22 hits in the opener. The pitching staff allowed just seven earned runs throughout the day and struck out 24 batters, compared to just seven walks. Rockford has now won six straight road games against Dominican dating back to the 2018 season.
Rockford 13 Dominican 6
- Rockford took a quick lead with a single run in the top of the first inning. Jake Bilotta led off the game with a single into right field. He then moved to second on a groundout, third on a wild pitch and would ultimately score on yet another wild pitch.
- The Regents added two more runs in the third to extend their lead to 3-0. TJ Cox singled to center, stole second and scored on a Jake Bilotta RBI double to right field. One batter later, Joseph Stagowski drove in Bilotta on an RBI single to right.
- However, the Stars plated three runs of their own in the bottom of the third to tie the game. Dominican had just two hits in frame, including a two-run single to knot the game at 3-3.
- Rockford would then score in each of the final five innings to seize control of the game.
- Ryan Stejskal gave the Regents a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth with his first RBI single of the game.
- The Regents added another single run in the sixth off a TJ Cox RBI double to center field.
- Jared Herzog and Jonathan Leon extended the Regents' lead to 7-3 with a pair of RBI singles of the seventh.
- The hits kept coming in the eighth, with Rockford plating four more runs off five hits. Jake Bilotta and Joseph Stagowski each drove in a run, while Jonathan Leon drove in a pair of runs on a two-out single to right.
- Rockford added two more runs in the top of the ninth, including one off Ryan Stejskal's second RBI single of the game, en route to an easy 13-6 victory.
- Thirteen runs was more than enough support for RU starting pitcher Jared Herzog. Herzog struck out at last one batter in seven of his eight innings, including striking out the side in the second and third, and fanning two batters in the first, sixth and eighth innings. He finished the game with a season-high 14 strikeouts.
Rockford 7 Dominican 3
- Game two was a much different story, as Rockford was held scoreless through the first seven innings.
- Dominican however, struck for two runs in the fourth and one more in the sixth to take its first lead of the day. Jake Polonus got the scoring started with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth. The Stars added an additional run in the sixth off a pair of singles, to extend their lead to 3-0.
- The Rockford bats finally woke up and exploded for seven runs in the top of the eighth inning. TJ Cox, Jake Bilotta and Joseph Stagowski all singled to load the bases with just one out. Ryan Stejskal drove in the Regents' first run of the game on a walk, and one batter later, Alex Perez drove in a run on an RBI groundout to make it a 3-2 game. Following a walk and a pitching change, Rockford took advantage of a Star miscue to knot the game at 3-3. Scott Gowan then crushed a three-run double to clear the bases and put the Regents out in front 6-3. Rockford tacked on one more insurance run off a BJ Graves single to take a 7-3 advantage.
- The RU pitching staff would take it from there. Blake Shallenbarger came in with two runners on in the seventh and retired both batters he faced to earn his first win of the season. Kent Evans Jr. proceeded to toss the final two innings of the game, striking out four and securing a 7-3 Regent win.
Game 1
- Joseph Stagowski finished 5-for-6 with 2 doubles, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
- Jake Bilotta went 4-for-6 with a double and 2 RBIs. He also tied the RU single-game record with 5 runs scored.
- TJ Cox was 4-for-5 with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored and an RBI.
- Ryan Stejskal finished 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs and a run scored.
- Jonathan Leon was 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs.
- Jared Herzog went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
- Jared Herzog went 8 strong innings, allowing just 3 runs and striking out a season-high 14 batters. This is the second straight game that Herzog has struck out at least 10 hitters.
Game 2
- Aaron Monti tossed 6.1 solid innings, surrendering 3 earned runs and striking out four.
- Blake Shallenbarger got the win and moved to 1-0. He retired the only two batters he faced, including striking out one of them.
- Kent Evans Jr. went the final two innings, allowing no runs and fanning four to preserve the win.
- TJ Cox was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
- Joseph Stagowski was 2-for-5 with a run scored.
- Alex Perez finished 2-for-5 with an RBI.
- Scott Gowan drove in 3 with a 3-run double.
