ROCKFORD, Ill. – Jon Rivera (Sr.-Lowell, Ind.) singled to drive in Trevor Meier (Jr.-Columbus, Mont.) in the fifth inning for what proved to be the deciding run as the Lakeland University baseball team closed out its season with a 3-2 win over Rockford University Saturday afternoon.

The Muskies received another stalwart pitching performance from Nathan Hemmerling (Fr.-Riverside, Calif.) and held on to win the second game of a doubleheader, finishing with a split in their final regular season date. Rockford won the first game 6-1, but with the second game win Lakeland closed out the year with 9-28 overall record and a 7-15 mark in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

Hemmerling pitched 8 2/3 innings in the second game and allowed six hits and two runs (one earned) while piling up 17 strikeouts. He tied his personal high set last month against Edgewood College, a mark that ranked as the third-most in a game in school history.

The freshman received run support with single runs in the first, third and fifth innings. Collin Schutz (So.-Saint Amant, La.) scored twice, the first time on a triple steal in the first inning, the second time on a single through the left side by Meier with the bases loaded in the third for a 2-0 lead. The final run came when Rivera followed up a two-out double by Meier with a single to center field to push the lead to three runs.

Hemmerling mowed down the Regents (9-21 overall, 3-13 NACC) without issues with the exception of the sixth inning, when Rockford took advantage of an error to start the inning and scored on a two-run single by Christian Garcia. Lakeland pitchers would finish the game retiring the final 11 Regent batters, with Hemmerling setting down ten straight before senior Ryan Oharriz (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) got the final out for his third save of the season.

Hemmerling finished the season with 76 strikeouts, the fourth-most in a season in Lakeland history. Only Steve Plucinski, who notched at least 100 K's three years straight from 2002-04 has more strikeouts in a season.

The Muskies had a tougher time in the first game as Rockford pitcher Joseph Kmiec was dominant, allowing just three hits and one unearned run with nine strikeouts in a complete game.

The Regents broke open a close game that was just 1-0 in the fifth, scoring three runs in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth. Michael Gunter delivered the biggest hit with a two-run double, part of his three-hit, three-RBI game.

Travis Regalado (Sr.-Willcox, Ariz.) drove in the lone Lakeland run with a sacrifice fly to score Hemmerling in the ninth. Jack Banks (Jr.-Mountain View, Calif.) and Connor Hilburn (Sr.-Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) also both had hits, with Banks hitting safely in both games.

Mason Pechy (Jr.-Diamond Bar, Calif.) started and pitched five innings, allowing five hits and four runs (two earned) with five strikeouts. Noah Suissa (So.-Belmont, Calif.) also came on in relief for the final 2 1/3 innings, shutting out the Regents on just one hit with five strikeouts.