University of Toledo
BUFFALO
Toledo Bounces Buffalo in MAC Home Opener, 12-2
4/6/2007 12:00:00 PM | Baseball
Final Stats
TOLEDO, OH - Junior LHP Kyle Rawlings allowed one run on one hit over seven innings and helped Toledo to a 12-2 victory over Buffalo in its Mid-American Conference home opener at cold Scott Park. Today's victory extends the Rockets' winning streak to six straight and improves them to 13-10 overall, 4-3 in the league.
Rawlings (1-2) retired 21 of the 25 batters he faced and tied his career high with eight strikeouts to pick up his first victory of the season.
At the plate, the Rockets scored runs in six different innings and finished with 17 hits against three UB hurlers. The hit total was the second-most tallied by the Midnight Blue and Gold this season, behind only 19 hits in its series finales at Ohio this past Sunday. Juniors Scott Boley and Jake Swint, along with freshman Josh Johnson paced UT's offensive attack with three hits apiece.
Toledo exploded out of the gates scoring four runs on the strength of four hits in the bottom of the first inning off UB starter Adam Ruzkowski (0-5). UT's effort was aided by a pair of Buffalo errors to establish an early four-run cushion. Sophomore Josh Colliver, Scott Boley and Swint collected RBI's in the frame.
The Rockets added to their lead with a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings to make the score 8-0. Johnson was credited with three of the four RBI's in the two frames, while junior Sean Boley also registered a run driven in.
Buffalo (2-21, 1-6 MAC), which finished with three hits, finally broke through for its first run in the sixth. With one out in the inning, the Bulls drew back-to-back walks off Rawlings, followed by a passed ball off the glove of Sean Boley to move both runners into scoring position. UB's Chris Ciesla then grounded out to the right side to plate E.J. Folli with its first run of the contest.
UT quickly responded to the Bulls' tally with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. The home team scored both tallies after the first two outs were recorded to make the score, 10-1. The 10th run marked the third time in the last four games the Rockets tallied double-digits runs.
Toledo finished off its scoring with insurance runs in the seventh and the eighth innings, before Buffalo mustered up a run in the ninth off the bat of pinch hitter Nick Walczak to make the final score 12-2.
The two teams will continue their three-game series tomorrow beginning at 1:00 p.m.
