MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The MSOE baseball team rode a strong pitching performance from junior Ben Falls in game one, but could not withstand a late rally in game two as it split a doubleheader with Rockford on a rainy Monday afternoon at Henry Aaron Field.

The Raiders (11-16, 7-9 NACC) won game one 2-1, but saw their 2-0 lead evaporate in game two, a 7-2 Regents (15-14, 6-8 NACC) victory.

Falls (3-2) threw his second-straight conference complete game and has now won his last three decisions. He scattered five hits over nine innings and struck out three.

MSOE plated a pair of runs in the fifth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Junior Jake Roberts reached on an error and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, junior Max Poeske plated Roberts with a single to right and took second as the outfielder bobbled the ball. After a wild pitch moved him over to third, Poeske came home on a balk.

Falls did get some help from his defense, as it twice players off first base to end innings and threw out the tying run attempting to go to third in the ninth inning.

Falls was working on a shutout in the final frame, when a Matt Grimes double to the gap scored Rockford's only run of the game. Senior Adam Vlaj's relay throw to third cut Grimes down from stretching his hit to a triple and ended the threat.

In game two, the Raiders bookended a 50-plus minute rain delay with single runs in the first and third innings, but the rallied for seven runs over the next four innings to pull away for the victory.

The game looked to be following the first game, as MSOE scored first in support of a strong start on the mound. Vlaj (2-3) overcame two hits in the first inning to face the minimum over the next four frames. Unfortunately in the sixth, the first four batters reached base and the first three scored to give the visitors a 3-2 advantage.

Rockford added to their lead with single runs in the seventh and eighth innings, before plating two more for the final score.

Vlaj threw 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits and four runs. He struck out three and walked one to get the decision.

The Raiders are back in action at Aaron Field Wednesday. They take a break from NACC play to host Northland in a pair of games starting at 3 p.m.