ROCK FALLS – Early-inning runs and a strong pitching performance from Dominic Terlikowski put Oregon in the driver’s seat on a windy Tuesday evening against Rock Falls.

With two more runs in the fifth and seven innings, it answered a late Rockets’ rally – and with solid defense throughout the game – it finished off a 5-2 Big Northern Conference win.

[ Photos from Rock Falls vs. Oregon baseball ]

Terlikowski worked a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the first inning, then the Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second.

Oregon loaded the bases in the first three plate appearances, as Gavin Morrow and Josh Crandall drew back-to-back walks and Keaton Salsbury skipped a single to shallow left field. Kade Girton then grounded out to score Morrow for a 1-0 Oregon lead, as Rock Falls shortstop Timmy Heald and second baseman Aaron Meenen combined for their second double play of the game on a ground ball to short.

The Hawks plated two more runs in the third inning for a 3-0 lead.

“It was very important because it put Rock Falls down, and they were kind of in a slump after that,” Terlikowski said. “They were down on themselves.”

Miley Smith singled to shallow left field as the leadoff, Logan Weems drew a walk, and Terlikowski was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

With no outs, the Rockets changed pitchers, subbing Brady Richards for Carter Dillon. Smith stole home on a dropped third strike on the next at-bat, then Morrow flew out to left field to score Weems for the 3-0 lead. Richards struck out Crandall for the third out.

In the bottom of the third, Terlikowski threw a flyout and two groundouts around a single to keep the shutout intact.

“Dom’s always an important player for us. He can always go out and throw strikes, and he’s got really good off-speed,” Morrow said. “And he throws pretty hard; from a lefty, he’s pretty hard to see, so he always does a good job for us.”

In the top of the fifth, Oregon widened its lead to 4-0. Jack Washburn smacked a two-out triple deep into right field, then scored on Morrow’s RBI single to left.

Rock Falls answered with runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth.

In the fifth inning, Cadon Schulz led off with a single between short and third. Austin Castaneda singled to second, then Heald hammered an RBI double off the fence in left field to bring in Schulz.

In the sixth inning, Isaiah Kobbeman was hit by a pitch as the leadoff, then stole second and third on an errant pickoff attempt at first base, before Schulz singled to left to score Kobbeman. But a 4-2 deficit was close as the Rockets could get.

Washburn drew a one-out walk in the top of the seventh, then stole second base and scored on a catcher throwing error to third.

Girton had two hits, Morrow had two RBIs, and Washburn scored two runs for the Hawks.

Terlikowski pitched 6 1/3 innings for the win, allowing two runs and seven hits, striking out seven with two walks.

“I had a lot of good work with my changeup and curveball. A lot of those guys can hit a lot of fastballs, so sometimes you gotta mix it up with the off-speed,” Terlikowski said. “The [defense] backed me up very well, I was very proud of how they played and held themselves high, even after they made a mistake.”

Castaneda and Schulz had two hits apiece for the Rockets.

Richards went five innings on the mound, allowing two runs (one earned) and four hits, striking out five with one walk.

“They scored five runs. They were all walked,” Rock Falls coach Donnie Chappell said. “We hit the ball hard, but we should’ve scored. We didn’t run with two outs, then we just made mistakes that you never should make this time of year. That’s the bad part. We’re trying to pick people off, we don’t need to pick them off. Just fundamental stuff. It’s frustrating. I give Oregon credit. They did a nice job. And we just give games away.”