University of Toledo
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WESTERN MICHIGAN
Toledo Comes From Behind to Defeat Western Michigan, 4-3
4/21/2007 12:00:00 PM | Baseball
Final Stats
KALAMAZOO, MI - Toledo came from behind and posted a thrilling 4-3 victory over Western Michigan in Saturday's Mid-American Conference action at Hyames Field. The Rockets scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to improve to 17-16 overall and 8-6 in the MAC.
Freshman Justin Collop (2-1), the second of three UT pitchers utilized this afternoon, was credited with the victory. Collop faced two only batters in the bottom of the eighth and recorded the third and final out of the inning to collect his second win of the season. Senior Joe Roberts preserved the come-from-behind victory, throwing a scoreless ninth frame and registered his team-best fifth save. The Rockets would not have been in position to win today's game had they not received a strong starting performance from sophomore RHP Mike Inselmann, who tossed the first 7.2 innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits with five strikeouts.
UT was limited to a MAC-season low four hits offensively in the second contest of this weekend's three-game series, but it was enough to help snap a three-game losing skid. Sophomore Josh Colliver was the only Toledo player with a multi-hit effort, as the Liberty Township, OH native finished with two hits and a pair of RBI.
For the second-consecutive game, Western Michigan (12-19, 5-6 MAC) jumped on the scoreboard first, plating a run in the bottom of the first. The Broncos were able to take advantage of a pair of walks by Inselmann and a RBI single off the bat of Chris Lewis to take a 1-0 lead.
The Rockets knotted the score at 1-1 in the third on a RBI groundout by junior Drew Hoisington. A throwing error off a ground ball by sophomore Jake Oester started the rally for the visitors. Junior Nate McKeon then laid down a sacrifice bunt, followed by a single up the middle from freshman Ryan Satterlee to advance Oester around the bases, before Hoisington brought Oester home for the equalizer and tallied his team-best 36th RBI.
The Broncos quickly retook the lead in the third on the strength of a leadoff triple by Zach Gentile and a RBI groundout off the bat of Joe McDonald.
Toledo would fight back again in the fourth and a double by senior Joel Visser, followed by Colliver's first RBI single of the afternoon tied the score for a third time, 2-2.
With hits hard to come by for both squads all afternoon, the score remained the same until the eighth when the Broncos scored the go-ahead tally on a RBI single by Pedro Dager. WMU's Nathan Marquardt hit a one-out ground ball to UT junior 3B Scott Boley, whose throw to first base was in the dirt and allowed Marquardt to take second base. Following a wild pitch to advance the runner to third, Dager chopped a groundball up the middle that just barely slid underneath the glove of UT SS Oester and into the outfield for the RBI and end the afternoon for Inselmann. The home team also had a golden opportunity to make it a two-run game later in the inning off UT's Collop when they had runners on first and second base and a single was hit through the right side, but Toledo senior RF Joel Visser's throw to the plate was on the mark to cut down the runner trying to score from second base for the third out.
In the top of the ninth, Scott Boley led off with a walk against WMU closer Derek Schlecker. Freshman Josh Johnson was then hit by a pitch, not once, not twice, but three consecutive times, before he was granted first base which stirred up quite a bit of controversy. According to the three-person umpire crew, Johnson fouled off the two pitches that hit him and as a result was not granted first base. As all of this was happening on, UT manager Cory Mee and Johnson were ejected from the contest. After all the dust was settled, Schlecker was replaced by Kyle Kendzicky on the mound and Johnson was pinch ran for by classmate Tim Krofcheck. UT's Colliver then stepped up to the plate and promptly tied the score with a RBI single through the right side and in the process allowed Krofcheck to advance all the way to third base on the play. Oester followed with a walk, before a Kendzicky wild pitch scored Krofcheck to give UT its first and only lead of the contest.
The two teams will wrap up their three-game series tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
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