Bren Spillane slides into 3rd base on June 3rd against Battle Creek. Spillane had one the Rivets' three runs in their loss to Madison tonight. Photo courtesy of Doug Timmerman and JK Richards Photography.
LOVES PARK, Ill. – Rockford had won four games in a row, all on the road, when Madison came to town for the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday evening.
Madison (10-11) ended the streak for Rockford (13-8), 6-3, as Madison’s pitching staff scattered six Rivets hits over nine innings. Josh Petersen (0-1) took the loss for Rockford and Mitch Vogrin (Illinois State) got the victory for Madison.
Both starting pitchers, Lukas Veinbergs (San Jacinto College) and Matt Horkey (UNC-Charlotte), got off to good starts for their respective clubs. Horkey had a perfect game heading into the 5th inning, which was broken up by a Neal Tyrell (Lewis) double with one out.
The Mallards got on the board first, when Jake Matheny (Indiana) scored on a wild pitch thrown by Veinbergs. Madison added another off Veinbergs in the 6th, as Angel Camacho (Jacksonville) drove in Doran Turchin (Illinois) with a sacrifice fly.
Rockford evened the score with two runs of their own in the bottom of the 6th. Ryan Hutchinson (Illinois State) came home on a wild pitch and Bren Spillane (Illinois) scored on a Zach Rheams (Texas Tech) sacrifice fly.
Unfortunately, Madison added three more runs in the 7th inning off Petersen (Ohio) and another in the 9th off Nick Drahozal (Nebraska-Omaha). Rockford added one more run in the bottom of the 9th, but this was too little too late.
Mitch Vogrin pitched 2 1/3 innings in the victory. The Rivets return tomorrow against the Kenosha Kingfish for another 6:35 p.m. start time.
At tomorrow’s game, the Rivets have another Weiner Wednesday! There will be $1 hot dogs during the game. Tyler’s Amazing Balancing Act will also be performing during the game. The Rivets leave town for a game in Kenosha on Thursday, but will return to Rockford for a four-game home stand on Friday. Don’t forget to order your Rivets tickets today by calling the Rockford Rivets ticket office at 815.240.4159.
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, 170 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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