The Aurora University baseball team hosted long-time Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference foe Rockford University on Monday evening at Solfisburg Park for a NACC doubleheader. AU swept Rockford winning a pair of thrilling 2-1 ball games.
Game One
The first game of the day saw a pitchers duel as AU starting pitcher
Colin Hart and Rockford starter Michael Murray went toe to toe, limiting the opposing offenses to four hits each over the first seven innings.
AU did threaten in the first and fourth innings bur stranded runners in scoring position each time while Hart had Rockford off balance and left the bases loaded in the fourth with no damage done.
In the eighth inning, Rockford got to Hart for a run on two hits but he was able to get an inning ending double-play and give the Spartans momentum going to the bottom of the inning. Ty Jaquez reached on an error to start the inning and scored on a single off the bat of
Danny Walczak. With two-outs, Walczak stole second and Rockford intentionally walked
Dillon Popovich to face
Adam Lipscomb. Lipscomb hit what appeared to be an easy fly ball to short right field but the gusty winds at Solfisburg played havoc on the Rockford defense as the ball fell between the second baseman and right fielder, allowing Walczak to score what would be the winning run.
Jacob Stockman came on to throw a scoreless ninth inning for his first collegiate save and giving Hart his fifth win (5-4).
Game Two
Much like the first game, a low scoring affair was on tap with both starting pitchers controlling the game and wiggling out of any early jam they faced. Rockford would get the games first run with a one out double which was followed by a single and ground out in the sixth inning. Spartan starter
Cody Love rebounded quickly though as he would go eight strong innings, allowing the one run with five hits and struck out six.
Rockford went to the bullpen in the eighth inning and the Spartans took advantage immediately, facing three Regent relievers in the inning. With one out,
Ryan Rybakowski singled to left and after a pitching change, Walczak lined a ball to left. The Regent left fielder misplayed the ball which rolled to the wall allowing Rybakowski to round the bases with a play at the plate. Rybakowski was able to slide in ahead of the tag and Walczak scampered to third base. After
Tanner Oymaian lined the first pitch he faced just barely foul down the right field line, Rockford quickly made another pitching change. A ground out and strikeout would end the Spartan threat and the game was knotted up at 1-1.
AU Head Coach
Adam Stevens called upon
Kyle Manske to come on in relief and Manske was dominant, striking out the first five batters he faced in the ninth and 10th innings.
Leading off the 10th for AU, Mike Chervin singled to right center, he then moved to second on a sacrifice and third on a wild pitch. With two outs after a strikeout, Walczak walked bringing Oymaian to the dish. After a long battle at the plate, Oymaian hit a solidly hit ball up the middle which the Rockford second baseman fielded almost behind second base. Busting down the line, Oymaian beat the throw by less than a 1/2 step while Chervin crossed the plate and the Spartans won in dramatic walk-off fashion, 2-1.
Manske picked up the win with two innings of relief work. He struck out five and did not allow a base runner to improve his record to 4-3.
With the sweep, AU clinched a berth in the 2015 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament and are now 21-17 overall and 10-8 in the NACC. Next action for the Spartan baseball team comes on
Saturday, May 2, 2015 when they travel to Edgewood College. Game one is set for 12:00 p.m. in Verona, Wisconsin.
