ROCHELLE — The Hubs varsity baseball team is off to a rough start in the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference.

After dropping three of their first four conference games including two to the Ottawa Pirates, Rochelle took the field this week to begin a three-game set with the Geneseo Maple Leafs, falling on Monday by a score of 1-0 and remaining cold at the plate on Tuesday in a 12-0 loss.

Monday

Senior Kyle Seebach did all he could to keep the Hubs in the game at Geneseo Monday afternoon, striking out seven batters and only surrendering an unearned run in the bottom of the third inning. Rochelle had a chance to break the scoring open in the top of the first after senior Matt Albers and sophomore Johnny Beck drew back-to-back walks, but Seebach grounded out to the second baseman to end the threat.

The Hubs went down in order from that point until the top of the fourth inning, when Seebach reached base after being hit by a pitch. Junior Brendon Danekas was hit in the fifth inning, but neither Seebach nor Danekas would cross home plate. Rochelle’s lone hit in the game came on a single by senior Landon Griffith in the second inning.

Tuesday

Holding a 4-0 lead entering the top of the sixth inning at Rochelle Township High School, the Maple Leafs took advantage of several Hub mistakes and scored eight runs to put the game out of Rochelle’s reach. Seven different Geneseo players crossed home plate, and seven consecutive hitters reached base with two outs.

The Maple Leafs also notched four hits in the sixth including a home run, which doubled Rochelle’s hit total for the entire game. Senior Caleb Gould was the only Hub to hit safely on Tuesday, recording a single in both the first and the sixth innings.

Rochelle falls to 6-7-1 after the two losses, and the Hubs will try and salvage the series at Geneseo on Thursday.