On Campus: Rockford U pitcher Jared Herzog named to D3baseball.com Team of the Week

Rockford University freshman pitcher and former Ottawa High School standout baseball player Jared Herzog recently earned his first major award of the season when he was named as a starting pitcher on the D3baseball.com Team of the Week. Herzog becomes the ninth RU baseball player and just the fifth starting pitcher to ever receive the honor.

Herzog was outstanding in his first start of the season for the Regents (8-16), going six innings and striking out a career-high 15 batters, including the final seven Maranatha Baptist University hitters he faced. His 15 strikeouts tied the school record for a seven-inning game dating back to 1978. Herzog, who has fanned 26 batters in 15 innings this season, allowed no runs, one hit and did not walk a batter to earn his first collegiate win.

The former Pirates star has been solid at the plate as well, hitting .293 (24 of 82) with five doubles, a triple, a home run, 15 RBIs, 15 walks and an on-base percentage of .408.

Track and Field

University of Dubuque’s Noah Gabrys (fr., Somonauk) recently helped the Spartans finished second in their own UD Spring Invite. Gabrys was part of the 400-meter relay team that placed ninth (3:41.18) while also finishing 20th (:24.44) individually in the 200. Prior to that, he was part of the 400- and 1600-relay teams that finished ninth and 11th, respectively, at the Mount Mercy University’s Mustang Open.

University of St. Francis had a number of fine performances at the recent Olivet Nazarene Outdoor Open. Eva Bruno (sr., Seneca) ran a career-best 4:43.02 to finish second in the 1500, while also helping the 1600-relay team (4:00.33) to a third-place mark. Mara Bruno (fr., Seneca) helped the 400-relay team place second (:48.29) and 1600-relay third, while recording an eighth in the long jump (16-5) and 10th in the 100 (:12.73). Evelyn Odum (jr., Seneca) placed eighth in the pole vault (9-2 1/4)

Cora Wilkinson (Sr., Seneca) was part of the Illinois Wesleyan University 1600-relay squad that finished second (3:55.44) at the Meet of Champions hosted by Augustana College.

Softball

Joliet Junior College pitcher/infielder Emily Friese (fr., Flanagan-Cornell) has appeared in 17 games for the Wolves (15-14) and is hitting .417 (10 of 24) with a double, home run, 11 RBIs, two multi-hit games and a .462 OBP. She has made six appearances in the circle for JJC with five strikeouts in eight innings.

Judson University’s Naomi Sweeney (fr., Newark), Sophie Schomer (fr., Newark) and Jocelyn Mitchell (fr., Newark) are all contributing this season for the Eagles. Sweeney has played in 21 games (11 starts), posting five hits, a double and an RBI. Schomer has appeared in 15 games (12 starts) and is batting .348 (8 of 23) with a pair of RBIs and has pitched 67 innings. Mitchell has played in 20 games (11 starts) and has a hit and three runs scored.

Kankakee Community College is off to a strong start, winning 22 of its first 32 games. Cavaliers pitcher Anne Krull (fr., Seneca) has appeared in 17 games (13 starts) and is 9-5 with 11 complete games. She has fanned 60 batters in 90 innings with an ERA of 3.66. Claudia Morris (fr., Seneca) has played in 25 games and recorded 15 hits, including four doubles, 13 RBIs, five stolen bases and scored 19 runs.

Ball State University swept a four-game weekend series from the University of Akron to improve to a perfect 15-0 in the Mid-American Conference and 21-10 overall. Cardinals’ catcher Delanie Johnson (sr., Streator) has played in 20 games (19 starts) and is hitting .389 (21 of 54) with three doubles, four home runs, 14 RBIs and a .441 OBP.

St. Ambrose University is off to a solid start, winning 12 of its opening 16 contests. Grace Schmitz (so., Streator) has played in 12 games (six starts) and is hitting .316 (6 of 19) with a double and four RBIs); while Jazzy Bowman (Jr., Ottawa) has appeared in 13 games (12 starts) and has five hits, two RBIs and six stolen bases.

Football

St. Ambrose University finished the season 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the Mid-States Football Association. Quarterback John Benckendorf (jr., Streator) finished the season with 144 yards rushing on 46 attempts and a pair of TDs, while leading the Bees in completions (53), pass attempts (105), passing yards (610) and passing TDs (7). He also recorded a 35.2-yard average on four punts.