LOVES PARK, Ill. - The Rockford University baseball team concluded its 2016 season on Saturday with a home doubleheader against the MSOE Raiders. Although the Regents were not in playoff contention, Rockford fought hard for its 11 seniors and came away with a split against the fifth-place Raiders. Rockford won the opening game with an impressive 5-4 comeback win before falling 11-4 in game two.
Game one was a pitchers' duel for much of the day as the Regents and Raiders combined to score just a total of two runs through the first six innings. MSOE struck first with a run in the top of the second before Rockford answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the third. Senior center fielder Robert Smith (Bartlett, Ill.) began the two-out rally with an infield single to the shortstop. One batter later, fellow senior Evan Frantini (Coal City, Ill.) laced a double down the left field line, scoring Smith and tying the game at 1-1.
The game would remain tied until the seventh when both teams scored multiple runs. MSOE began the inning with 3 runs off 4 hits before Rockford responded with 4 runs off 4 hits in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead. Andrew Hunt (Apple Valley, Calif.) and Patrick O'Malley (Elk Grove, Ill.) opened the bottom of the seventh with a single and a walk to give Regents runners on first and second with no one out. One batter later, senior Devin Standard (Monroe Center, Ill.) knocked an RBI double down the right field line scoring Hunt and pulling the Regents back to within 2 runs at 4-2. Following a pitching change and a strikeout, senior Seth Dascher (Lena, Ill.) crushed an RBI double over the right fielder's head as Rockford made it a 4-3 game. Two batters later senior Robert Smith roped a clutch two-run single into center field scoring Standard and Dascher as Rockford took its first lead of the game at 5-4. The Rockford pitching staff would take it the rest of the way holding the Raiders scoreless in the final two innings. The final play in the ninth came when the Regents picked a runner off second base with two outs to end the game and seal the win.
Rockford used a combination of three pitchers in the first game. Senior Michael Murray (Princeton, Ill.) got the start and went 3 innings allowing just 1 run on two hits while striking out 1. Senior Jake Morsch (Somonauk, Ill.) took over in the fourth and held the Raiders without a run until the top of the seventh when he got into a bit of a jam. The Regents then turned to David Camacho (Elk Grove, Ill.) who tossed the final 3 innings allowing 0 runs on 6 hits while striking out 5 to pick up the win.
Following a thrilling victory in opener, Rockford fell behind early in game two and was never quite able to recover. The Raiders scored 7 runs in the first 3 innings to jump out to a quick 7-0 lead before Rockford responded with 3 runs in the bottom of the third. Britton Seivert (Rockford, Ill.) began the third with a leadoff double giving Rockford a runner in scoring position with no one out. After a strikeout and a Kwynn Rury (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) bunt single put runners on first and third, senior Devin Standard then continued his hot hitting by driving in Rockford's first run of the day with an RBI single. Robert Smith kept the rally going with an RBI groundout as the Regents made it a 7-2 game. Rockford's final run of the inning came when Evan Frantini crushed an RBI double into left center as the Regents pulled back within 4 runs at the end of the third inning.
Rockford added one final run in the bottom of the fifth to make it just a three-run game. Robert Smith reached base on an error to begin the inning and then stole third to put himself in scoring position with no one out. Fellow senior Evan Frantini then drove in Smith with an RBI groundout to make it 7-4. The score remained unchanged until the top of the ninth when MSOE tallied four runs on three hits to seal an 11-4 win.
The Regents used seven different pitchers in game two, four of which did not allow a run. Junior Thomas Goodyear (Romeoville, Ill.) highlighted the group tossing 2 innings allowing no runs and no hits while fanning 3. Tyler Joyce (Rochelle, Ill.) and Joseph Valdez (Tucson, Ariz.) each threw one shutout inning with Valdez striking out one. Thomas Bolen (Tucson, Ariz.) was the other Regent not to allow a run as he fired the final two-thirds of an inning and struck out one batter.
