By: Emily Tuttle
KENOSHA, WI. — The Rockford Rivets (5-7) gained their redemption against the Kenosha Kingfish (3-9) behind Jackson Forbes (University of Arizona), who went 5-for-6 with a triple, two doubles, two singles and five RBIs on the night. Forbes led his team to a 16-11 win to gain the series split.
After getting walked off Thursday in the first game of the series against the Fish, the Rivets got their leadoff man aboard in the first seven innings and scored in all but three frames. Rivets manager Bob Koopmann started Baris Brua (UW-Oshkosh) on the hill, who went four full innings of work, allowing seven runs, six of them earned. He issued one strikeout on the night but allowed no walks.
Trailing by three entering the second, the Rivets exploded offensively, sending 11 batters to the dish and scoring seven. With the first four men reaching, Jackson Forbes belted a two-RBI double, followed by Bryce Nevils’ (John A. Logan CC) RBI base hit and a sac fly by Caleb Rhodes (Olive-Harvey CC). Rhodes’ sac fly was the first out of the inning, after seven batters.
That was only the beginning.
The Fish added two runs in the bottom of the second, one off a wild pitch and a solo homer.
The top of the third continued the efficient hitting. Alex Tabbert (Harper CC) led off with a single, Connor Kave (Harper CC) followed suit and Jackson Forbes hit a triple to the back wall for his fourth RBI of the night.
Forbes’ night wasn’t flawless, as he committed three errors in the field and five in the series against the Kingfish. Still, his offensive production, one homer shy of the cycle, more than made up for the defensive miscues. He leads his team with 18 hits this season so far.
The Rivets all got in on the hitting affair, with all but two men recording hits on the night. The Screws scored in all but three innings, ending with 16 hits and 16 runs.
Reliever and the Rivets’ only southpaw, Caden Vogt (McHenry County CC), took over for Brua in the fifth. He struck out his first batter swinging and would go on to gain all three outs on punchouts. He recorded six K’s on three runs, two earned, facing 18 batters through three innings, with the win attributed to him.
The Rivets put up zeros in the fifth and sixth, but the Kingfish added a couple of runs, cutting the Rivets’ lead to five.
They added some insurance runs to start the seventh.
Nevils worked a walk, fighting through a 10-pitch at-bat. He stole both second and third, his third bag of the day and sixth in the series. He ended up scoring on a wild pitch, and Zan Von Schlegell (University of St. Thomas) scored on a Davis Collie (John A. Logan CC) RBI after Von Schlegell’s third walk of the night.
Kenosha put up their final numbers in the eighth with a solo homer, and J.R. Nelson had his fourth hit and ended up going 5-for-5. But Vogt got back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning and his outing.
Rivets closer Ben Buehring entered the game in the ninth, gaining two strikeouts. He ended the high-scoring night with a 93 mph fastball, striking out the Kingfish batter looking. He shot his iconic bow and arrow into the air, capping the strong night from both pitching and hitting for the Rivs.
They’ll look to take this momentum over to Iowa as they play the Waterloo Bucks in a series beginning Saturday at 6:35 pm. Fans can purchase tickets all season long online at rockfordrivets.com.