LOVES PARK, Ill – Wisconsin Woodchucks first baseman Steve Passatempo (UMASS Lowell) homered twice and drove in five as the Woodchucks sent the Rivets to a fourth consecutive loss with an 8-4 win Wednesday night at Rivets Stadium.
Wisconsin took an early lead in the second. George Janca (Texas A&M) doubled to start the inning, and two outs later scored on a Marquise Doherty (Missouri) single to right for a 1-0 lead. The Woodchucks would continue their two out prowess in the third against Rivets’ starter Zach Aring (St. Joseph’s, IN). Steele Walker (Oklahoma) walked, and Jared Oliva (Arizona) doubled him home for a 2-0 lead. Passatempo then doubled home Oliva to make it 3-0. Janca wrapped up the scoring for the inning with a single to score Passatempo for a 4-0 advantage. Cade Bunnell (Madison Tech) would cut the lead in half with a long two-run home run in the third to cut the Rivets’ deficit to 4-2.
In the fifth, Oliva tripled with one out and Passatempo launched a home run off of Aring (2-2) to right field to make the score 6-2. That was more than enough for Wisconsin starter Robert Ziegler (Kent State), who threw the necessary five innings to improve his record to 4-3 on the season. After the Rivets cut it to 6-4 going to the seventh, the Wisconsin all-star first baseman struck for a second time, on this occasion hitting a long home run to left center to make it 8-4 Woodchucks, which would be the final score.
The Rivets wrap up the two game series against the Wisconsin Woodchucks at Rivets Stadium on Wednesday night at 6:35. Broadcasts and live streams can be found at NorthwoodsLeague.com.
Rockford is a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League, which will play its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2016. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 150 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox), Jordan Zimmermann (Detroit Tigers), Curtis Granderson (New York Mets), Lucas Duda (Mets) and Ben Zobrist (Chicago Cubs). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website, NorthwoodsLeague.com. For more information, visit RockfordRivets.com.