Baseball drops opener, game two halted in 10th of NACC doubleheader at Rockford

LOVES PARK, Ill. – The Concordia University Wisconsin Baseball team traveled to Rockford for a NACC doubleheader Monday afternoon. The Falcons fell victim to a Rockford rally in the opener, dropping a 5-4 contest before battling the Regents to extra innings in game two. The second contest was halted in the top of the 10th with the game tied, 4-4, due to a light issue at Rivets Stadium.

THE BASICS
- Final Score: Rockford 5, CUW 4 (Game One); Game two halted in the top of the 10th (Tied 4-4)
- Location: Rivets Stadium – Loves Park, Illinois
- Records: Rockford 7-8, 3-0 NACC; CUW 11-8, 1-2 NACC

CUW 4, ROCKFORD 4 (HALTED IN THE 10TH)
- When the two teams get together to finish game two, the Falcons will have a strong scoring chance with the bases loaded and one out. Three walks helped set the state for the bases loaded situation, the last an intentional pass to Dan Ranieri (Loves Park, Ill.). Kyle Hilliard (Oak Forest, Ill.) was set to bat for the Falcons at the time of the delay.

- All the runs in the nightcap were scored in the first three innings of play. CUW scored in the first when Peter Scott (Dayton, Nev.) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The Falcons added three runs in the top of the second, two on an RBI single by Ranieri.

- Rockford scored four times in the bottom of the third to tie the game as the rest of the contest was a pitchers duel. Seth Cox (Gilbert, Ariz.) fired 5.1 scoreless innings of relief for the Falcons. He struck out three batters and pitched from the fourth until there was one out in the bottom of the ninth. Niko Kutsulis (Homer Glen, Ill.) got the final two outs in the ninth for the Falcons.

- Ranieri had two hits to pace the Falcons before the game was halted while Justin Barney (Kenosha, Wis.) hit a double for CUW.

ROCKFORD 5, CUW 4
- The Falcons held a 4-1 lead heading into the eighth inning in the opener before Rockford scored two runs in the eighth and ninth frames for a walk-off 5-4 win. Jacob Rillamas delivered a bases loaded, two-out, two-run single for the Rockford in the ninth.

- The Falcons jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a two-RBI double by Scott in the second inning. After a Bryce Hinkelman solo home run for Rockford made the score 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, CUW scored once each in the fifth and sixth innings for a 4-1 advantage. Michael Szeszol (Lake Bluff, Ill.) doubled in Christian Gerner (Mequon, Wis.) in the fifth while Gerner singled in Scott in the sixth.

- The Regents made the score 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth when Brett Down hit a two-run home run.

- Andrew Gibbons (Markesan, Wis.) pitched well in a no-decision for the Falcons in the opener. Gibbons went seven innings, allowing just three hits and one run. Michael Enriquez (Chicago, Ill.) and Scott Plachinski (South Milwaukee, Wis.) both made relief appearances for the Falcons.

- Gerner led CUW with three hits, including a double in game one. The Falcons roped four doubles with Scott, Szeszol, and Barney all hitting one each.

UP NEXT
- The Falcons are scheduled to host Marian in a NACC doubleheader Saturday. First pitch at Kapco Park is scheduled for noon.