GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Rockford Rivets (19-18, 2-1) defeated the Green Bay Bullfrogs (12-26, 0-3) in ten innings, 7-5, at Joannes Stadium Friday night. It was the Rivets’ fifth win in as many games against the Bullfrogs this season.
The Rivets took an early 1-0 lead when Ryan Hutchinson (Illinois State) led off the game with a home run to left field. The Bullfrogs answered, however, with three runs in the bottom of the first, with their third run coming on an Alex Pener (Scottsdale CC) solo homer. The Rivets got one back in the third on Patrick Loeffler’s (Indiana) solo homer, but Green Bay got it right back with a run of their own in the third, to take a 4-2 lead.
With the Bullfrogs up 5-2 in the sixth, Hunter Feduccia (LSU) hit a solo homer to cut the Rivets’ deficit to just two runs. Then in the eighth, Rockford put together a two-out rally. Feduccia plated a run with a double to the right-center field gap, then Brian Klein (Texas Tech) followed with a game-tying RBI single to right field, scoring Feduccia.
The score remained 5-5 until the top of the tenth inning, when Feduccia hit a go-ahead two-run home run to right field. The homer was the fourth of the night from the Rivets and Feduccia’s second. The Rivets catcher went 3 for 5 on the night with 4 RBI, and he also threw out three Bullfrogs attempting to steal bases.
Brad Littleton (Indiana) started for the Rivets and worked six innings, giving up five runs, but he pitched better than his stat line. Littleton struck out five batters in the outing and allowed just two runs over his final five innings on the mound. George Manikas (Lewis) got the win in relief, throwing three scoreless innings, while Dylan Stutsman (Indianapolis) picked up the save, his fourth of the season.
The Rivets have now won two games in a row and will play Game 2 of their series with Green Bay tomorrow at 6:35 p.m.
The Rockford Rivets are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League, which will play its 24th season of summer collegiate baseball in 2017. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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, 160 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals), two-time World Champion Ben Zobrist (Chicago Cubs) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (Boston Red Sox), Jordan Zimmermann (Detroit Tigers), Curtis Granderson (New York Mets) and Lucas Duda (Mets). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website, NorthwoodsLeague.com.
