LOVES PARK, Ill. – The MSOE baseball team won its 20th game of the season and clinched it's first-ever NACC Tournament berth with a doubleheader split with Rockford Saturday afternoon at Rivets Stadium.

The Raiders (20-20, 11-9 NACC) led 4-1 in game one, but could not hold on in a 5-4 loss. They then jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the Regents (18-22, 8-12 NACC) in the nightcap and never looked back.

With a loss by Edgewood during game two, MSOE clinched a place in next week's NACC Tournament. It's the team's first conference tournament since joining the NACC in 2008. The Red & White will be the No. 5 seed and start play Thursday at 1 p.m. against yet-to-be-determined No. 4 seed.

The Raiders also posted their first 20-win season since 1981.

MSOE led 7-0 after three innings on just three hits in the opener. Three walks loaded the bases in the first inning and it pushed the game's first run across on a passed ball.

Then, in the second, it was more of the same in terms of plate discipline. A pair of walks and hit batter loaded the bases Sophomore Jimmy Carrington then followed with the Raiders' first hit game the game, a grand slam to right field for a 5-0 lead. It was Carrington's second grand slam of the season.

The Red & White tacked on two more runs with their bats Sophomore Max Kemp led off the third inning with a single and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. Senior Casey Magyar then followed with a double to score Kemp. He would score, himself, two batters later on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Ryan Newman.

Rockford answered in the bottom half of the third, striking for three runs. It would add a single unearned run in the fifth inning, but that was as close as the home team got as MSOE pulled away with three more runs in the ninth.

A pair of walks got the ball rolling in the ninth. Senior Tyler Doyle, Newman and Carrington then followed with successive RBI singles to make it 11-4.

Junior Brandon McCumber got the start on the mound, striking out three in 2.2 innings. Freshman Sam Crawford (4-0) then came on to toss five innings of relief to get the win. He allowed just two hits, a walk and an unearned run.

Sophomore Michael Boehmer retired the final four batters of the game, striking out two, to record his third save of the season.

Carrington finished with three hits and drive in five runs in the game. Doyle reached four times with three walks. Magyar scored three runs, while Doyle, Newman and Carrington scored twice each.

The Raiders had also scored first in game, opening the scoring in the second inning. Freshman Nick Gross led off with a double and advanced to third on a ground out. He came in to score on a suicide squeeze with senior Ryan Miller at the plate.

After the Regents tied the game at 1-1 in the third, Miller was at the heart of another big inning for MSOE. Back-to-back singles and a walk loaded the bases to lead off the seventh inning. A go-ahead run scored on a wild pitch, before a hit batter re-loaded the bases.

RU nearly escaped any more damage with back-to-back strikeouts, but Miller followed with a two-run single to left field to make it a 4-1 game.

Rockford quickly answered back as the first three batters reached in the bottom half of the inning, scoring a run. After a pitching change and a strikeout, a double make it 4-3. MSOE got another strikeout, but a two-run single by Robert Smith gave the home team the lead for good.

Junior Jacob Roley tossed six innings, allowing four runs and striking out four. Boehmer worked the final two frames and was saddled with the loss. He struck out three, allowing two hits, two walks and one run.

Gross knocked out three hits in the game, while Doyle, Newman and sophomore Garrett Willems collected two hits apiece.