PLYMOUTH, Wis. - The Rockford University baseball team earned its first NACC sweep of the season with a pair of wins at Lakeland University on Saturday afternoon. Rockford exploded for 11 runs in the opener and never trailed at any point. The Regents jumped out to a 7-0 lead and then coasted to an easy 11-2 victory. Game two was much closer than the opener. After Lakeland scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second, Rockford scored six of the next seven runs en route to the 8-5 win. RU starting pitchers
Adrian Rapier and
Brayden Bidwell were both excellent on the mound. The duo combined to allow just four earned runs over their 14 innings of work to earn the wins.
Game 1
- Rockford scored the first seven runs in the game including a four-run fourth.
- Blaise Mace broke the scoreless tie with an RBI groundout in the second to give the Regents a 1-0 lead.
- The Regents added another run in the third on a pair of doubles to make it a 2-0 game. Zach Duke led off the inning with a double, and two batters later, Joseph Stagowski doubled him in.
- Rockford began the fourth with four straight singles, including a Zach Duke RBI single to make it 3-0. Jake Bilotta and Joseph Stagowski followed with RBI walks and Kadin Bergstrom drove in the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly.
- The last of the seven runs came in the top of the seventh courtesy of a Nate Burdin solo home run.
- RU starting pitcher Adrian Rapier would take it from there. Rapier went eight innings and allowed two or less runs for the third time in his last four starts. The senior held the Muskies scoreless and did not allow an extra base hit over the first six innings of the game.
- Lakeland did add single runs in the seventh and eight innings off a combined three hits.
- However, Rockford tacked on another run in the eighth and three more in the ninth to seal the victory. The Regents scored on a wild pitch in the eighth, and then on RBI singles by Zach Duke and Joseph Stagowski for the 11-2 victory.
Game 2
- Lakeland broke the scoreless tie with a single run in the bottom of the second. The Muskies used a leadoff double to get a runner in scoring position and then made it a 1-0 game following an RBI single.
- Fortunately, Rockford responded with a three-run top of the third. Kadin Bergstrom and Blaise Mace each doubled in a run and Nate Burdin drove in the other run off an RBI single to give the Regents a 3-1 advantage.
- Lakeland followed with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning off two hits to make it just a one-run RU lead.
- However, the Regents plated a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to take a three-run advantage. Zach Duke and Jake Bilotta strung together back-to-back doubles with Bilotta driving in Duke to make it 4-2. Joseph Stagowski then drove in the final run of the inning on an RBI groundout.
- The score remained unchanged until Kadin Bergstrom cracked his NACC-leading ninth home run to make it a 6-2 Regent lead.
- Six runs proved to be enough for the RU pitching staff led by starter Brayden Bidwell. Bidwell allowed just two runs and held the Muskies scoreless over his final three innings.
- Rockford tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the top of the eighth. Zach Duke knocked in the first run on a sacrifice fly, and then Jake Bilotta plated the final run on an infield single.
- The Muskies were able to add single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, but it was not enough, as Rockford held on for the 8-5 win.
Game 1
- Nate Burdin finished 3-for-4 with his first collegiate home run, a double, 3 runs scored and an RBI.
- Joseph Stagowski was also 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and 3 RBIs.
- Zach Duke went 3-for-5 with a double, 3 runs scored and 2 RBIs.
- Jake Bilotta finished 2-for-4 with a double, 2 runs scored and an RBI.
- Adrian Rapier picked up his third win of the season on Saturday. Rapier tossed 8 innings, allowed just 2 runs and 5 hits, while striking out 6 batters.
Game 2
- Kadin Bergstrom finished 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
- Blaise Mace went 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
- Nate Burdin was 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.
- Cobi Cooper finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.
- Jake Bilotta was 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and 2 RBIs.
- Brayden Bidwell picked up the win to improve to 2-1 this season. Bidwell went 6 innings, allowed just two runs and struck out a trio of hitters.
