ROCHELLE — Andy Buskohl had a confident start on the pitcher’s mound, but his bat made the most noise Wednesday evening, when the Rochelle Hub varsity baseball team hosted the Sycamore Spartans for the first of the team’s two-game Interstate 8 Conference series.

Buskohl shut the Sycamore offense down over the first four innings, holding the Spartans scoreless before conceding two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Looking for their fourth consecutive win, the Hubs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, with junior Nate Burdin and Buskohl each hitting homers to ultimately lift Rochelle over Sycamore 3-2. The Hubs improved to 4-2 overall with the win.

“Sycamore came in as the No. 2 seed in the conference, so it felt great to knock them off,” Buskohl said. “My changeup was working really well. I fell into some trouble in the fifth inning, but I was able to help myself out at the plate. It was a pretty fun team win tonight and our chemistry has grown. We’ll be playing with a lot of confidence over these next few games.”

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Burdin belted a solo home run from the No. 8 spot in the Rochelle lineup to bring the Hubs within one run. Senior Evan Meyers continued the Rochelle rally from the lead-off hole, hitting a double to enter scoring position before Buskohl’s two-run blast brought the game-winning runs home. Burdin, who made a diving catch in center to preserve a run earlier in the game, threw a shutout inning of relief to seal the win.

Fresh/Soph

The Rochelle fresh-soph baseball team fell 6-4 against Sycamore on Wednesday, dropping to 2-2 on the season. Bradley Cooney went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for the Hubs, while Christian Burnette and Alex Burnette each recorded RBIs.