2008 Northern Athletics Conference Baseball Tournament
Game 6 – Rockford College 8, Concordia Chicago 3
Box Score
Postgame Comments from winning Coach
ROCKFORD, Ill. (May 10, 2008) - Rockford College defeated Concordia Chicago 8-3 to win their second straight Northern Athletics Conference Tournament Championship. It was the third matchup between the two schools in the tournament with the Regents taking two of three.
After three innings of no-hit ball, Rockford’s Phil Smith doubled down the right field line to break up the no-hitter and drive in two runs. Shaun Dascher would follow up Smith’s double with a double of his own, driving in a run to push the score to 3-0.
Concordia Chicago would counter in the bottom of the fourth, scoring a pair of unearned runs. Phil Seris hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Brandon Isaac for the Cougars first run of the game. Later that inning Zach Tropp would hit a two-out RBI single for the team’s first hit in the game and bring the score to 3-2.
The Regents would pile on two more runs in the top of the fifth inning, leading off the inning with three straight singles and added an additional two in the seventh.
Zach Jones (6-1) picks up the win for the Regents pitching five and one-third innings and allowing just one earned run. Billy Kuchelmeister picks up his second save of the season, pitching three and one third innings and allowing no runs. Concordia Chicago’s Anthony Collaro (2-2) is saddled with the loss, pitching three and two-thirds innings and allowing three earned runs. Both teams’ starters combined for 10 of the game’s 12 walks.
Rockford’s Brandon Smith was two-for-two at the plate with two RBIs to lead the Regents. He was the only Regent to record multiple hits. Zach Tropp accounted for two of the Cougars five hits, going two-for-four at the plate with an RBI.
Concordia Chicago won the elimination game to start the morning against Benedictine and defeated Rockford 11-1 the following game but were unable to win their third game of the day.
Rockford improves to 27-17 with the win while Concordia Chicago falls to 31-13. The Northern Athletics Conference does not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships until 2009, so the Regents can only qualify be receiving an at-large bid.
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