Rockford, IL – Five Bucks pitchers combine to strike out eleven Rockford hitters and leave twelve men on base. Collin Brightwell earned two RBIs on two hits, and MJ Sweeney went 3-5 with a double and an RBI en route to a 7-2 win on the first road trip in 2026. 

Waterloo started in front after scoring first in the top of the third. Zach Davis led off the inning by being hit by a pitch. He moved up to third on consecutive hit by pitches, then scored on a Collin Brightwell RBI groundout to put the Bucks on top 1-0. 

The Rivets got that run back in the bottom half of the third inning. Coby Neville blasted a solo home run to right to knot the score at 1-1. 

In the top of the fourth, Waterloo answered back. Caleb Parker led off with a single to left field, then stole second and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt. One batter later, George Baker lifted a sacrifice fly to center to give the Bucks the lead, 2-1, one they would not lose. 

In the top of the fifth, Waterloo pulled away. Brightwell led off the frame with a walk, then stole second. After a wild pitch allowed him to move up to third, he scampered home on another wild pitch to make it a 3-1 game. One batter later, Cole Patterson walked and stole second. Now with two outs, MJ Sweeney lasered a double to right that scored Patterson and boosted the lead to 4-1. Two more wild pitches to the backstop let Sweeney around to score to make it 5-1. 

In the last of the sixth, Neville blasted his second solo home run of the game to cut into the lead, 5-2. Rockford put more pressure on to load the bases in the seventh, but Tyler Glowacki pitched out of it unscathed. 

In the top of the eighth, Waterloo tallied two more runs. Zach Davis singled with one out, then stole second. That brought up Brightwell who slapped a base hit into left to plate Davis and push the lead to 6-2. Up next, Patterson laced a double to right and swapped places with Brightwell to make it 7-2, the score that would be the final. 

With the win, the Bucks go to 3-2 on the season and 1-0 against the Rivets. The rubber match of the series is set for Saturday at 6:35 pm. Both starters are TBD.

https://northwoodsleague.com/baseball/game/?id=5697