Rochester Takes Down Springfield 4-1

May 19, 2016

By Drew Locascio
Illinois Scouting Director

Rochester 4, Springfield 1

ROCHESTER, IL – Rochester shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, the No. 2 ranked senior in Illinois and Louisville commit, didn’t waste much time making his presence felt on Wednesday afternoon. Fitzgerald, the leadoff hitter for the Rockets, took the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first inning and hit a towering home run over the left-field wall. The home run gave Rochester an early 1-0 lead. Rochester would later add three more runs, eventually defeating Springfield 4-1.

The game remained 1-0 Rochester (19-8) leading, until the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs and nobody on, nine-hole hitter Adam Bunch, coaxed a walk off of Springfield (26-4) starting pitcher Austin Troemper. The Senators then elected to intentionally walk Fitzgerald. With two outs and runners on first and second, sophomore Nic Baker hit a groundball that squirted past the pitcher. Senator shortstop was able to field it cleanly but his throw to first, which would have ended the inning, short hopped the first baseman. The ball ricocheted off of the first baseman’s glove all the way to the fence, allowing two runs to score and Baker eventually ended up at third base. Baker scored on a wild pitch a couple of pitches later stretching the Rochester lead to 4-0.

Springfield’s biggest threat of the game came in the top of the seventh. Austin Alderman led off the inning with a double down the left-field. Ethan Klay then reached on an error making it first and third with nobody out. Michael Lavin followed with a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Alderman from third. Rochester turned to Cam Edmonson, a freshman left-handed pitcher, to record the final two outs. Edmondson induced a pop up and struck out the final batter of the game looking on a fastball inside.

Springfield junior starter, Austin Troemper, took the loss despite throwing six innings and only allowing one earned run. He also struck out eight hitters. The 6-foot-2, 165-pound, Troemper worked quickly, attacked hitters and showed confidence and feel for his breaking ball. His fastball sat 78-81 mph throughout.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher, Ben Chapman, got the win for Rochester. Chapman worked off of his 80-81 mph fastball, routinely commanding it to his glove side. Chapman went four innings, scattered two hits, no runs, struck out two and walked one.

STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS
+ RHP Ben Chapman (Rochester) – 4IP, 2H, 0R, 2K, 1BB
+ RHP Austin Troemper (Springfield) – 6IP, 3H, 4R, 1ER, 8K, 3BB
+ SS Tyler Fitzgerald (Rochester) – 1-for-2, HR, RBI, 2R, BB
+ OF Austin Alderman (Springfield) – 1-for-3, 2B, R
+ RHP Parker Flynn (Rochester) – 2.1IP, 1H, 1R, 0ER, 0K, 0BB
+ LHP Cam Edmonson (Rochester) - .2IP, 0H, 0R, 1K