By: Emily Tuttle
ROYAL OAK, MI. — The Rockford Rivets continued their series on a hot July night against the Royal Oak Leprechauns. The Rivets gave up a large fourth inning to the Leps, and got their opponent’s momentum started, which led to an 18-2 loss.
Out of the gates, Bryce Nevils (John A. Logan CC) belted a standup double, which looked like it could set a productive tone for the team. He came home on a sac fly from Tommy Townsend (Xavier University) to put the Rivs ahead 1-0 quickly.
The Rivets stranded two runners in the second and one in the third on a night where they only had five hits. Over the past couple of games, the Rivets’ offense has gone cold, and they have struggled to reach base on hits.
Coby Neville (Paradise Valley CC) was the Rivets’ only batter to record more than one hit tonight, going 2-for-4, but stranded each time.
Carter Lund (Madison CC) started well on the mound, retiring the side in the first two innings and allowing no hits through the third. But in the fourth, Lund lost his command, and the game quickly slipped out of the Rivets’ grasp.
In the fourth alone, the Leprechauns scored seven runs. Patrick Illich belted what turned into a bases-clearing triple because of an error by Nevils in center. Then, Beau Bloxdorf (Madison CC) had back-to-back errors at short that brought Illich home, then allowed another single. The three consecutive errors were a snapshot of what characterized the Rivets’ night.
Logan Koeller (Florida A&M University) entered for Lund in the fourth, inheriting loaded bases with two outs. He gave out another free pass to score a run before a flyout ended the inning.
Lund finished with seven runs, two of them earned, three walks and three strikeouts.
The walks were an issue for the Rivets’ pitching staff tonight, dishing out 12. With runners on base, the Rivets struggled. Koeller had a difficult time locating the zone, hitting high, away, low—anywhere but in the zone.
George Gouriotis (Edgewood College) finally took over on the mound in the bottom of the seventh. He gained three strikeouts, and in the eighth, he threw the first scoreless inning since the third. He went three up, three down in the bottom of the eighth.
Zan Von Schlegell (University of St. Thomas) walked to open up the top of the ninth, and he came home on a Keith Eusebio (Paradise Valley CC) single. The game seemed like it was over after the fourth, and the Leprechauns continued to take advantage of the Rivets’ free passes, adding on runs and sucking the life out of the Rivets.
This is the second time the Rivets have been swept by the Leps this season, but they will head back to Rockford for a homestand starting against the Traverse City Pit Spitters on Tuesday at 6:35 pm.