VERONA, Wis. – No matter what kind of baseball you like, you got a little bit of everything at Stampfl Field on Saturday. You like a tense pitching duel? You got it. You like lots of runs and a wild ninth inning comeback? You saw that too. Edgewood College pulled out a doubleheader sweep over Rockford University, winning the opener 2-1, and rallying to steal the nightcap 14-13 by scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The opener featured a brilliant pitching matchup between Edgewood College's Blake Bieri and Rockford's David Camacho. The Eagles picked up an unearned run in the first when Jonathan Roehler's fly to right field was dropped for a three-base error. Garrett Bogucki popped a single to center to bring Roehler home. Edgewood College (10-4, 2-0 NACC) made it 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth when Nick Lehner drilled the first pitch he saw over the center field fence for his second home run of the season.
Rockford University (7-9, 0-2 NACC) pulled within a run in the top of the fifth, but that was all Bieri would allow. After Rockford's run, Bieri retired 10 of the next 11 batters, including three strikeouts. Danny Appino moved from right field to the mound and worked around a two-out walk in the ninth inning to secure his third save of the season.
Bieri finished with six strikeouts in eight innings pitched, allowing just the one earned run for his third victory of the season. Eight of the nine Eagle starters had a base hit, but only Lehner had two with his home run in the fifth. Appino also had a double. For the first time this season, the Eagles did not steal a base in a game.
The crisp pitching of the first game gave way to a wild free-for-all in game two. The Eagles and Regents battled through five lead changes, including the Eagles coming back from deficits of 5-0 in the third inning, 10-7 in the fifth inning and 13-11 in the ninth inning.
Rockford had added an insurance run in the ninth inning, to put the Eagles in a two-run hole. Paul Cappetta sparked the rally with a long, one-out blast to the corner that forced the Rockford right fielder into the fence. The ball bounced off the chain link and Cappetta went all the way to third for a triple. As it turned out that would be the only hit the Eagles would need to pull off their comeback. Rockford changed pitchers, but pinch-hitter Nik Visone drew a walk. Next Bryan Sternig filled the bases with another base on balls. After a strikeout, Appino worked the count for the third walk of the inning, forcing home Cappetta to make the score 13-12. Next up came Roehler, but instead of a game-winning hit, he took a game-tying pitch in his back, bringing pinch runner Patrick Wardlaw home. With no worse than extra innings secured, Garrett Bogucki drew the game-winning walk on a 3-1 pitch, bringing home Sternig and setting off the celebration.
Cappetta led the Eagles with three-hits, a new career-high for the sophomore, including his first career double and first career triple. Roehler continues to be an RBI machine, going 2-for-5 and driving in a career-best five runs. He currently leads the NACC with 20 runs batted in through just 14 games. Sternig went 2-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base. Appino completed his incredible two-way day by going 2-for-4 with two runs batted in and earning the pitching win by getting the final two outs of the ninth inning. Adam Eck started on the mound for the Eagles, striking out two batters before leaving in the third inning.
The two wins marked the Eagles first conference opening doubleheader sweep since taking two games from Wisconsin Lutheran College in 2009. Edgewood College hits the road tomorrow for another NACC doubleheader. The Eagles will face Dominican University at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg, Ill. beginning on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.