Toledo, Ohio— The Toledo baseball team begins its spring break road trip this weekend. The Rockets head to Baton Rouge, La. for a tournament hosted by national ranked LSU.
UT will face the Tigers on Friday night, followed by a Saturday afternoon game against Southeastern Louisiana and a Sunday matinee against Sacred Heart. Friday's game can be seen on
ESPN3 and updates will be provided all weekend long on Twitter at
@ToledoBaseball.
Friday live stats |
Saturday live stats |
Sunday live stats
Probable Starters
Friday: at LSU, 7:00 p.m. CT (RHP Zack Hess vs.
LHP Michael Jacob)
Saturday: vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 1:00 p.m. CT (RHP Mason Knopp vs.
RHP Layne Schnitz-Paxton)
Sunday: vs. Sacred Heart, 11:00 a.m. CT (RHP Baylor Sundahl vs.
RHP Sam Shutes)
After this weekend's tournament, Toledo heads to Hammond, La. for a Tuesday night game against Southeastern Louisiana. The Rockets then make their way to Athens, Ga. for a weekend series against Georgia.
Rocket Notes
- Toledo head coach Cory Mee was an assistant under LSU head coach Paul Mainieri while the two were at Notre Dame. Mee coached under Mainieri from 1995-99.
- Under Mee, Toledo is 0-1 against LSU, 1-0 against Sacred Heart, and has never faced Southeastern Louisiana.
- Entering this weekend, the Rockets lead the Mid-American Conference with nine home runs and are third in slugging percentage (.439). The nine homers are 25th in the country.
- AJ Montoya has moved into sole possession of sixth place on Toledo's career doubles list (43), passing former MLB first-round pick Mitch Maier. Also making moves on career lists is Ross Adolph. His eight career triples are tied with seven other players for fifth all-time.
- Toledo hit seven home runs last weekend: Brad Boss and Matt Hansen each had two while Ross Adolph, Michael Ryan, and John Servello all had one.
- Nate Haugh's fantastic outing kept his season ERA at a pristine 0.00. He has pitched 5.0 innings out of the bullpen this season, striking out six and walking one.
- Toledo pitchers have struck out 53 batters so far, and 43 percent of them have been sent down looking, one of the highest rates in the MAC.
- Matt Hansen has embodied the old adage "hit it where they ain't", his batting average on balls in play so far sits at .471.
Scouting the Competition
- The runners-up at the 2017 College World Series, the No. 14-ranked LSU Tigers hold a record of 5-3 with a midweek contest against Southeastern Louisiana scheduled for Wednesday. The Tigers have averaged nearly 11 runs per contest in their five wins, but have allowed 31 runs in their three losses. Senior outfielder Beau Jordan leads the team with a .455 batting average and has scored 11 runs. Seven of LSU's nine starting hitters have a batting average over .300, and the team owns a collective average of .311. The Tigers had four players in D1Baseball's Top 100 draft rankings: OF Zach Watson, RHP Zach Hess, RHP Caleb Gilbert, and OF Antoine Duplantis.
- Southeastern Louisiana, a 2017 NCAA Tournament participant, also holds a record of 5-3 entering its midweek game against LSU. The Lions will have played five straight home games against ranked opponents entering Saturday's game against the Rockets: a midweek game against No. 20 UL Lafayette, a weekend series against No. 25 UConn, and Wednesday's game against the Tigers. Southeastern has been the speediest team in the nation thus far, averaging 4.88 stolen bases per game. Senior outfielder Drew Avans and junior infielder Cody Grosse lead the team individually with seven stolen bases apiece.
- Sacred Heart has played just three games so far. The Pioneers beat Norfolk State in their season opener, 9-4, but lost to Stony Brook and Iona to round out their weekend tournament. SHU is hitting .319 after its three contests last weekend, with senior outfielder Dan Schock leading the way at .500 (6-for-12). Schock also drove in a team-best five runs last weekend.
