LOVES PARK, IL – Rockford has struggled against Battle Creek all year, and that trend continued on Monday night.
The Bombers (34-25, 17-8) defeated Rockford (37-23, 17-8) by a final score of 12-3, ending Rockford’s four-game winning streak and knotting both teams at the top of the second half standings.
Rockford looked in good form out of the gate, and scored twice in the 1st inning. Ryan Hutchinson (Illinois State) led off with a double, and reached third on an error. Bren Spillane (Illinois) hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring Hutchinson home, and Hunter Feduccia (LSU) scored later in the inning off a Brian Klein (Texas Tech) RBI double to put Rockford up 2-0.
Battle Creek, who trailed Rockford by a game in the standings coming into the game, got their first run in the 2nd. JD Mundy (Virginia Tech) took Rockford starter Max Bain (Northwood) deep to center field, cutting Rockford’s lead in half.
In the 3rd, Battle Creek broke it open. In total, the Bombers sent 13 men to the plate and scored eight runs. Bain could only record two outs before he was pulled from the game, and the Bombers claimed the lead from Rockford 9-2.
The score remained 9-2 for much of the ballgame. JC Hughes (Rock Valley) gave Rockford three and a third scoreless innings of relief, but the Rivets were unable to score in any of those innings to cut the Bombers’ lead.
Battle Creek, however, managed three more runs in the 7th inning off of Rockford reliever Mike Kogut (South Suburban). Although the Rivets scored one in the 8th inning, they could not muster many base runners down the stretch and fell to the Bombers for the sixth time in seven tries.
The season is coming to a close in the next few weeks for the Rivets. But not to worry! Rockford still has six home games remaining. The next two are a two-game series at home against the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders on Thursday, August 3rd and Friday, August 4th. It’s Thirsty Thursday – that means $1 Miller Lite drafts during the game. Call 815.240.4159 to inquire about buying your tickets today.
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, 180 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.
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