Final Stats
BOWLING GREEN, OH - Toledo (14-34, 4-14 MAC) and Bowling Green (30-14, 10-7) waited out a lenghty four-hour rain delay on Saturday afternoon at Warren Steller Field. Unfortunately for the Rockets, the delay did not slow down the high-powered Falcons' offense when play resumed, as the Midnight Blue and Gold dropped an 18-7 decision to their arch-rivals.
The Falcons tied a season-high with 19 hits as seven different players collected at-least two hits. Also eleven different BGSU players had a RBI off five UT pitchers.
Senior RHP J.R. Duffey (4-6) suffered the loss and allowed 10 runs (nine earned) on nine hits with four strikeouts in 3.2 innings of work. Prior to today's outing, Duffey was 3-0 against the Falcons with three complete games.
Junior Jason Watson (3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored) and freshmen Jake Swint (2-for-4) and Sean Boley (2-for-3, 2 runs scored) led the Rockets with multi-hit contests.
Toledo jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on a RBI groundout by sophomore Joel Visser. Freshman Drew Hoisington led off the game drilling the first pitch of the contest off the wall in left-center for a double. Swint followed with a sacrifice bunt to advance Hoisington to third base, before the Cuyahoga Falls, OH native scored on Visser's team-leading 35th RBI of the season.
Bowling Green quickly countered in the bottom of the first frame with a two-run home run by Andy Hudak and a solo shot from Nolan Reimbold to take a 3-1 advantage.
The score would remain the same until the third when the Falcons tallied an unearned run. Eric Lawson and Josh Stewart led off the frame with back-to-back singles. On Stewart's hit past the third-base bag, UT freshman Scott Boley made a diving stop keeping the ball in the infield, but his throw from his knees eluded first basemen Ryan Laude and allowed Lawson to score all the way from first.
The Rockets came back with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth frame thanks to a two-run home run by Watson, his team-leading sixth of the season, cutting the BGSU lead to 4-3.
As quickly as the Rockets had cut their deficit to a single one run, BGSU blew the game wide open in the bottom of the fourth with seven runs on six hits and the aid of three walks to chase Duffey and make the score 11-3. The Falcons sent 12 batters to the plate in the frame and all the damage was done with two outs.
BGSU pushed the lead to 17-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning with five more runs. Two came off a single down the left-field line by Jeff Warnock while two more came from a single by Jimmy Lipari.
Toledo refused to go quietly and plated four runs in the eighth on the strength of a two-run home run by senior Dan Ruth and a two-run single by senior Matt Ruth. Unfortunately for UT, the Falcons added a final run in the eight via an RBI fielder's choice by Mike Barnard to make the final 18-7.
The two teams will conclude their three-game weekend series tomorrow, May 15, with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch from Steller Field.
