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Baseball Cats Shut Out Riverside 9-0

By Joe Mertens '15, 04/15/21, 3:30PM EDT

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Luke Roggenburk strikes out nine out of the pen in Wildcats win Tuesday night.

The Wildcats defeated the Riverside Beavers Tuesday night 9-0 under the lights at Brookside Reservation in the Metroparks. The Wildcats allowed just three hits in the win as the pitching staff continues to be lights out early on in the season. Jacob Rocky, Aidan Cooney, and Luke Roggenburk combined to shut out the Beavers. Roggenburk struck out nine batters in three innings of relief.

The Blue and Gold came out strong in the bottom of the first inning as they would load the bases with their first three hitters. Riverside's first pitch plunked Billy Adams, Anthony Paskell drove a double to center field, and Matt Giberti drew a walk to juice the bases in the first inning.

Sawyer Solitaria grounded into a fielder's choice to score Adams from third to make it 1-0. Nard would bring home the second run on a sac fly to score Paskell. The big blow for the Beavers came off the bat of senior Jacob Eiermann, who shot the ball into the gap in center field to drive in two on the single.

"It was a fastball I was looking to hit," says Eiermann. "My teammates got on and helped rattle the pitcher, we had great base running, and it was a great team win."

After another 1-2-3 inning by Rocky, the Wildcats would tack on a couple more runs in the second. Back-to-back singles by  Paskell and Giberti set up a sac fly for Nard to bring home Paskell. Roggenburk would score the sixth run on an RBI single to left field to score Giberti.

Rocky went three perfect innings of baseball and striking out three as Eiermann was the man behind the plate for the Cats. "It takes no effort at all," says Eiermann. "He hits all of his spots, and the movement is insane."

Cooney would come out of the pen in the fourth inning for relief. Riverside would get their first baserunner of the ball game with an Ethan Brennan double to center field. Cooney would work out of trouble, not allowing another hit and keeping the shut out intact.

Roggenburk would move from his DH position into the pitcher's spot in the fifth inning for the Cats. Roggenburk brought his best stuff on Tuesday night as he would strike out three in the fifth. The Cats bats were dormant in innings three and four but came back alive in the fifth as junior Josh Putka lined a ball into left field for a double off the wall.

Back-to-back walks loaded the bases again for the Wildcats. After a dropped third strike by Riverside, Micah Murtha reached first safely, and a fielding error by the Beavers allowed two Wildcat runners to come home, making the score 8-0.

SIBN Players of the Game; Luke Roggenburk and Jacob Eiermann

With the bases loaded again in the fifth, Roggenburk drew a walk to bring in another run for the Cats. The Wildcats threatened to end the game with the ten-run mercy rule, but Riverside's pitching tight roped out of danger.

Roggenburk would finish the game as pitcher for the Cats as he was practically untouchable in three innings of relief and the Wildcats shut out Riverside 9-0 under the lights at Brookside. "My focus today was just throwing strikes," says Roggenburk. "It wasn't working in the past, but it worked perfectly today."

Next up for the Wildcats is the Barnhill Classic at Testerman Park in Maineville, Ohio. The Cats will match up with Archbishop Moeller at noon and Lakota West at 3 p.m. for a doubleheader. The SIBN will be live streaming the game for those who cannot make the trip to Maineville.