Rockets battle in Detroit
Kenny Kruse
UT's baseball team (12-20, 6-6 MAC) battled through five games in six days. Game two and three against Central Michigan were played on Sunday as a doubleheader at Grand Park near Indianapolis, Indiana, due to inclement weather.
The University of Dayton Flyers (8-22, 2-7 A-10) scored a quartet of runs to start the game, taking a 4-0 lead.
UT responded with a run to cut UD's lead, 4-1, in the second inning as Chris Meyers, first-year infielder, slugged his first collegiate home run.
Dayton tacked on a run in the third and fifth innings, 6-1, to keep a distant lead.
The Rockets scored a pair of runs later in the inning, trailing 6-3. John Servello, first-year outfielder/right-handed pitcher, hit an RBI-single, scoring Ross Adolph, third-year outfielder.
Toledo pitching held the Flyers scoreless for the remainder of the game. UD collected six hits.
UT came within two runs of Dayton, 6-4, in the seventh inning. Adolph hit a sac-fly as bases were loaded and brought in a run.
The offense came alive in the eighth for the Rockets, as a trio of runs helped UT take the first lead of the game, 7-6. AJ Montoya, fourth-year outfielder/catcher, began the rally with a home run. Meyers scored a wild pitch and Servello singled to center field to score Brad Boss, fourth-year fielder.
Toledo collected 11 hits in the victory and Austin Calopierto, second-year right-handed pitcher, earned his first win of the season. Servello's hitting streak continues to 18 games and on-base streak to 22.
Madonna (Mich.) at Comerica Park
Toledo traveled to the Motor City last Wednesday to take on the Madonna Crusaders (27-11, 18-4 WHAC) in a rare opportunity to play in Comerica Park. UT took control of the game in the second inning as 13 runs, on 20 hits, were scored through the sixth. Meyers had himself a game playing shortstop with diving efforts to keep the MU from reaching base.
Joey Prechtel (1-1), second-year right-
handed pitcher, dazed the Crusaders in the first four and two-thirds innings before allowing a pair of hits, earning his first win of the season. The rest of the pitching performances picked up where Prechtel left off.
The top half of the Rocket offense went 16-25 with eight RBI's, nine runs scored and a quartet of extra-base hits. Servello and Boss each collected four hits while Adolph and Dalton Bollinger, fourth-year infielder/catcher, tallied three hits. Montoya blasted a three-run home run over the centerfield wall into the visitor's bullpen.
CMU – Game 1
The series was originally scheduled to take place in Mount Pleasant, Mich., but the weather dealt bad luck on Friday the 13th. Despite playing the series opener at Scott Park, CMU played as the home team.
Central Michigan got on the board with a trio of runs in the first two innings, taking a 3-0 lead.
UT responded in the third with a run, to trail 3-1. Michael Ryan, second-year catcher, scored on a bases-loaded groundball during a double play.
The Chippewas tacked on a pair of runs, 5-1, split between the fourth and sixth innings.
Toledo rallied in the ninth with a pair of runs, trailing 5-3. Boss' right-field double scored Trace Hatfield, first-year infielder, and Servello's fielder's choice groundout scored Corey Tipton, fifth-year catcher.
The Rockets' ninth inning rally wasn't enough in the 5-3 loss to CMU. UT collected seven hits and an error while the Chippewas collected nine hits.
The Rockets offense and fifth-year right-handed pitcher Sam Shutes, took control of this matchup.
Adolph homered a solo shot in the first inning for the Rockets and then hit a three-run home run the following inning. Adolph has 10 home runs on the season and collected a career-high of five RBIs.
Servello hit an RBI-single and Meyers homered in the second, extending the Rockets' lead, 6-0.
Three more runs came in for Toledo in the third inning, leading 9-0. Gose's squeeze bunt scored Meyer, the first run and two bases loaded walks followed, scoring a pair of runs.
Another Rockets trio of runs scored, 12-0, all split between the fourth through sixth innings.
Bollinger's RBI-single in the eighth tacked on another UT run, 13-0.
The Chippewas answered with a run, 13-1, later in the inning, but couldn't get anything going for the offense on the eight collected hits and four errors.
Toledo collected 19 hits in the 13-1 victory over the Chippewas. Shutes (7-0) earned the victory for the Rockets as he threw seven shutout innings, striking out seven.
CMU scored a pair of runs in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead in game two of the Sunday doubleheader.
Toledo responded in the following inning with a run to cut the Chippewas lead in half, 2-1. Boss singled to right field, allowing Gose to score.
The Rockets tacked on another run in the seventh to tie the game, 2-2. Boss singled to advance Meyers to second and scoring Hatfield.
Central took the lead in the eighth inning with a run, 3-2, and secured another victory over the Rockets to take the series. Both teams collected eight hits apiece.
The midnight blue and gold were scheduled to travel to Rochester, Mich., today to take on the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at 3 p.m., but the game was canceled. The team will instead play the Spring Arbor Cougars at Scott Park today at 3:05 p.m.
Eastern Michigan will come to town this weekend to continue MACtion for three games. First pitches against the Eagles are 3 p.m. on Friday, April 20th and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, April 21st and 22nd. Lawrence Tech (Mich.) comes to T-Town on Tuesday, April 24th for a 3 p.m. game.
meagan ohara