ROCKFORD, Ill. -- The Rockford University baseball team hosted the Illinois Institute of Technology Scarlet Hawks on Wednesday afternoon, falling 6-3 in game one, then beating Tech on a walkoff in the ninth in game two, 4-3.
The Regents will return to action on Saturday, March 28, for a road conference doubleheader against MSOE starting at noon CDT.
Game One: Illinois Tech 6, Rockford 3
Zach Duke went 2-for-4 with a single and a double at the plate.
Blaise Mace had two RBIs, off a single and a sacrifice fly.
Bryce Stanton drove in the other run, going 1-for-4 at the plate with a single to right.
Logan Koeller got the start on the bump for Rockford. He threw four-and-a-third innings, striking out four and giving up four earned runs.
Alex Easton was the first arm out of the pen, striking out two and giving up one earned run in just under three innings.
Trent Lawrence finished the game, giving up an earned run and striking out one Scarlet Hawk over the final two innings.
Illinois Tech put the first run on the board in the top of the third inning off a sacrifice fly to left field, and added to the lead in the fifth, scoring four runs to go up 5-0.
The Regents were held scoreless for the first five innings. They finally broke into the runs column in the sixth.
Zach Fabis led off the inning with a double down the right field line and was eventually brought home by a Stanton ground ball to make it 5-1.
They tacked on another run in the seventh, after Duke led off with a double to left center and was brought home by a Mace base knock to left.
The Scarlet Hawks put up an insurance run in the top of the ninth to extend their lead to four.
The Regents had runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth when Mace flew out to left to bring
QJ Mangelsen home. The rally ended there, as Illinois Tech closed it out to grab a 6-3 victory.
Game Two: Rockford 4, Illinois Tech 3
Fabis was money at the plate, going 3-for-3 with three singles and two RBIs. Bergstrom was 2-for-5 with a solo home run. Stanton continued knocking in runs, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
The Regents' starting pitcher in game two was
Bartolo Rodriguez. He struck out four Hawks and gave up three hits in just under six innings of work.
Sidney Atkins took the reins in the sixth, striking out two. Fabis closed out the game, shutting down Tech with three strikeouts and giving up no hits.
Rockford finally got the offense going early in this game. Bergstrom singled to give the Regents a base runner, and Lawrence joined him with a walk in the next at-bat. Stanton drove a base hit into right center to score Bergstrom, then Fabis singled to center to bring Lawrence home and put RU up 2-0.
Rodriguez blanked the Scarlet Hawks over the first five innings to keep the Regents ahead.
Bergstrom led off the bottom of the fifth with a homer to left field that got out in a hurry. The Regents headed into the sixth up 3-0.
The Scarlet Hawks ended the shutout in the ensuing half inning, driving in a run to cut the lead to two.
Atkins got himself out of a jam in the seventh. With bases loaded and one out, he struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning unscathed.
He wasn't as lucky in the eighth. Illinois Tech tied the game with a couple of unearned runs to make it 3-3.
After Tech failed to score in the ninth, the Regents were put in a position to win it. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Mangelsen got on with an infield single. He stole second and Fabis did the rest, hammering a frozen rope to right center to walk it off and hand the Regents a 4-3 win.
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