By Larry Larson<\/p>\n
The Rivets\u2019 bats took seven innings to wake up after an 11:05 ET time start in Kalamazoo, but the Growlers\u2019 bats were enough to prevent a comeback, as Rockford fell 5-4 in game one of a doubleheader at Homer Stryker Field on Thursday. The loss drops Rockford\u2019s record to 4-6 in the second half.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The game started with four scoreless innings, as Growlers\u2019 starter Brayden Forsyth (So, Mississippi) and Rivets starter Payton Hutchings (Fr, Illinois) dueled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hutchings loaded the bases with no outs to begin his outing in the 1st, but averted the threat by recording 3 straight outs. Forsyth escaped a similar bases-loaded, 1-out jam in the top of the 2nd with back-to-back strikeouts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The scoring started in the bottom of the 5th, as Devin Burkes (Fr, Kentucky) doubled and advanced to third on a Dominic Pitelli (Fr, Miami) bunt hit. TJ Williams (Fr, Notre Dame) followed the small ball act with a bunt of his own, scoring Burkes on a safety squeeze to open a 1-0 Kalamazoo lead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the bottom of the 6th, Hutchings walked Brooks Coetzee (Jr, Notre Dame) and allowed an RBI single to Luke Storm (Fr, Duke) in his final batter of the outing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Growlers made it 3-0 with a sac fly in the 7th, before Rockford scored its first run in the 8th thanks to an RBI knock from Jared Cushing (R-Fr, Xavier). However, the Rivets stranded runners on 2nd and 3rd to end the frame.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the bottom of the 8th, the deficit would swell again, as AJ Golembiewski (R-So, Illinois-Springfield) allowed a 2-run homer to Henry Gargus (So, Stanford) to make it 5-1.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The homer would prove to be costly in the 9th, as the Rivets put two runners on base ahead of Greg Ziegler (So, Missouri State) with one out. Ziegler belted a line drive to right field that cleared the 3-foot wall for a 3-run homer to trim the lead back to 5-4.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Phil Matulia (Jr, Louisiana Tech) followed the homer with a walk, but Tommy Benson (R-Fr, Triton) grounded into a game-ending double play.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Rivets will have another shot at the Growlers tonight at 6:35 ET. Ryan Green (Jr, Concordia-Wisconsin) will start on the mound for Rockford.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Larry Larson The Rivets\u2019 bats took seven innings to wake up after an 11:05 ET time start in Kalamazoo, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-team-news","category-update-ticker"],"yoast_head":"\n