VERONA, Wis. - The Rockford University softball team won 5-3 and 8-6 on the road Friday to sweep the Edgewood College Eagles. It was a complete team effort for the Regents in both games. Rockford pounded out 22 hits combined in the two games and got a pair of complete game performances from starting pitchers
Mariah Martinez and
Kariana Williams. Martinez and Williams combined to allow just four earned runs over their 14 innings of work. At the plate, six different Regents had a multi-hit game, including
Bella Lima and
Chayton Krueger who had multiple hits in both games. Rockford has now won three straight against Edgewood and nine of the last twelve meetings.
Rockford 5 Edgewood 3
- Rockford broke the scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the top of the second. Kariana Williams and Rylee Klema both singled to put runners on first and second with one out. A couple of batters later, the Regents capitalized on an Eagle error to score both their runs and jump out to a 2-0 lead.
- The Eagles responded with an unearned run of their own in the bottom half of the inning to cut the RU lead in half.
- The Regents were able to get that run right back in the top of the third. Chayton Krueger and Bella Lima led off the inning with a single and a double to put runners on second and third. One batter later, Emily Down drove in Krueger on a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-1 RU advantage.
- The scoring spree continued in the bottom of the third, thanks to an Olivia Hebert solo home run.
- One inning later, the Eagles tied the game off a pair of hits, including an RBI single.
- The score remained unchanged until Rockford scratched across a single run in the top of the sixth to retake the lead. Emily Down led off the inning with a single. Two batters later, Enedy Perez laced an RBI single into left to put Rockford up 4-3.
- Rockford would add an insurance run in the top of the seventh via a Bella Lima RBI double into right center.
- Starting pitcher Mariah Martinez would take it the rest of the way. Martinez did not allow a run over the final three innings and was only really in a bit of jam in the seventh. Fortunately, she was able to induce a double play and then get the final batter of the game to pop out to third to seal the 5-3 win.
Rockford 8 Edgewood 6
- This time it was the Eagles who broke the scoreless tie in the second inning. Edgewood scored three runs off four hits and took advantage of a pair of Regent errors to grab an early 3-0 lead.
- Following a pair of scoreless innings for both teams, Rockford tied the game with a three-run fifth. Enedy Perez got things started with a leadoff double. After two quick outs and a walk, Rockford took advantage of a pair of Eagle errors and an RBI single from Bella Lima to knot the game at 3-3.
- Rockford would seemingly put the game away one inning later with five more runs. Kariana Williams and Rylee Klema began the inning with back-to-back singles. Enedy Perez then drove in the first run of the frame via an RBI double, followed by an RBI single from Michaela Froehlich to give the Regents a 5-3 lead. Rockford added another run on a Olivia Lysaght RBI fielder's choice and a two-run single from Chayton Krueger to extend its advantage to 8-3.
- RU starting pitcher Kariana Williams was unhittable after surrendering those three runs in the second. Williams did not allow a hit and retired nine straight batters at one point from the third through the sixth inning.
- However, the Edgewood bats came back to life in the bottom of the seventh. The Eagles tallied three hits, a walk and took advantage of a Regent error to cut the RU lead down to 8-6 and had the winning run at the plate. Fortunately, Williams dug in and got the final batter of the game to flyout to center to preserve the 8-6 victory.
Game 1
- Mariah Martinez picked up the win to move to 5-1 this year inside the circle. Martinez threw her third complete game of the year, allowing just 5 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 3.
- Chayton Krueger finished 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored.
- Bella Lima was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI.
- Emily Down went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
- Rylee Klema finished 2-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base.
Game 2
- Kariana Williams threw her first complete game of the season. She scattered 6 hits, allowed 2 earned runs and struck out 3 in the victory. She also went 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored.
- Enedy Perez went 2-for-3 with 2 doubles, 2 runs scored and an RBI.
- Bella Lima was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
- Chayton Krueger finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored.
