Box Scores - Game 1, Game 2
LOVES PARK, Ill. (SabreAthletics.com) – It was an off-night for the pitching staff and defensive errors didn't help as the Marian University baseball team was swept by host Rockford College in a Northern Athletics Conference doubleheader, 9-5 and 14-6, this evening, April 9.
The Regents were clicking on all cylinders in a mid-season clash between two teams with 4-2 records. Rockford took early leads in both games and had the pitching and offensive prowess to fend off any and all Sabre comeback threats on the day. Marian's
Garrett Dorn went 5-for-9 with three runs scored to lead the Sabres, but he was outdone by Rockford's Jimmy Dercks, who went 7-for-9 with four doubles, a homerun, five RBIs and four runs scored.
The Sabres fell to 11-9 overall, 4-4 in NAC play, while the Regents improve to 9-12 (6-2 NAC).
In game one, the Sabres were able to climb out of a 2-0 hole after the first inning to tie the game on a
Phil Seis sacrifice fly in the third inning. He also drove in the first Marian run with a second inning single.
Rockford took back the lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth and threatened to add more before Marian starter
Cory Martin worked out of a two-on, none out jam in the fifth inning.
Rockford converted on another scoring chance in the sixth, but not without the help of a Marian defensive miscue that prolonged the frame. After the error, the Regents tacked on three insurance runs, highlighted by a Jimmy Dercks two-run homer, to take a commanding 6-2 lead.
Matt Bromley cut the deficit in half with an RBI groundout in the sixth, but it wasn't enough to catch the Regents as the deficit grew to six with a three-run eighth inning.
Trailing 9-3, a Sabre ninth-inning rally fell just short after bringing the tying run to the plate. A pair of bases loaded singles moved runners from station to station and made the score 9-5 with doubles machine,
John Cetnar, coming to the plate. The senior, with five doubles in his last three games, was looking for another one, but a groundout to third base ended the threat and the game.
Cory Martin (0-4) took the loss, allowing six runs (3 earned) on nine hits over 5.2 innings. Daryn Streed (3-2) earned the win for the Regents, going 7.1 innings and allowing three runs (2 earned) on 10 hits.
Jesse Blum, who entered with an ERA just over 1.00, got the ball in game two for Marian. He took the bump with a 3-0 lead after Cetnar doubled in a run and
Jace Unrein added two more with a two-run single to left field.
It would be a short-lived lead for the Sabres as Rockford took advantage of an error to lead off the frame and put four runs on the scoreboard, all of them unearned.
Brandon Winfield came on in relief for the next four and two-thirds innings. The sophomore hadn't allowed an earned run all season entering the day, but that streak came to an end as he gave up six runs (4 earned).
Rockford scored in every inning, except the second. The Sabres pulled to within a run in the fourth inning when Dorn singled home
Matt Follen to make the score 5-4.
Rockford would answer a run in its half of the fourth, another in the fifth, three more in the sixth and four more insurance runs split over the seventh and eighth innings to run away with a 14-6 game two victory.
Blum took the loss to fall to 3-2 on the year, while Justin Moore picked up the win to move to 1-2. Zac Wolf earned his first save of the season, going three innings in relief.
The Sabres will look to bounce back this Friday, April 13, with a home doubleheader against Maranatha Baptist. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
