BUFFALO, NY - Toledo's softball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader at Buffalo, falling 12-7 in game one and 9-4 in game two. UT concludes the 2010 season with a 12-39 record overall, 4-18 in the MAC.
Erinn Wright finished the doubleheader 3-for-5 with three RBI, Kate Ricchio had three hits and Lacey LeVier closed out her collegiate career with three runs scored for the Rockets, who marked a four win improvement in 2010 under first year head coach Tarrah Beyster.
The Bulls jumped to an 8-0 lead in game one, sending 13 batters to the plate in the first inning. The Rockets scored once in the second as LeVier tripled and came in on Lindsey Tobias' RBI groundout, and UT made it interesting with a five-run fourth to cut it to 9-6.
The first five hitters of the fourth reached base for Toledo, with runs coming in off RBI basehits from Kattie Palmer and Ricchio. After a strikeout, Wright doubled down the left field line to bring in two more runs, and Mica Sanchez had an RBI infield single to bring the Rockets within three.
Buffalo responded with a run in the bottom of the inning, but UT answered right back with another tally in the fifth as Ricchio tripled to right field to plate LeVier. That made it a 10-7 ballgame, but the Bulls earned some breathing room with a two-run homer in the sixth, and UT went down in order in both the sixth and seventh innings.
In game two, Wright had an RBI single to tie the game in the third after the Bulls pushed across a run in the bottom of the second. Buffalo, though, scored six runs across the third, fourth and fifth innings to build a 7-1 advantage.
Sanchez had an RBI single as Toledo put together a three-run sixth frame. McKenna Smith and Melissa Rons also had RBI hits in the innings as the Rockets narrowed the deficit to 7-4, but once again it was the Bulls offense giving its pitchers some insurance runs with two more tallies in the bottom of the sixth.
The Rockets outhit UB 11-8 in the second game but also stranded seven runners in the setback.
Despite the tough end to the season, the 2010 campaign saw Rocket records littered across the books. As a team, a new record was set in RBI in a season with 197, which broke the old mark of 192 (1990). The team's 29 home runs were one shy of a school record (30, 2005), and the squad's .372 slugging percentage is also the second-best mark in history (.390, 2005).
Individually, Hannah Rockhold capped off one the most prolific four years on the mound of any UT pitcher. She started both games on Sunday to set the school record for most career appearances on the mound with 133, which broke Tami Johnston's mark of 132 (1984-87). Rockhold's 45 appearances this spring are also a school single-season record (Kristy Kassotis, 1997), and her 33 starts ranks second (Kassotis, 1997). Finally, Rockhold finished her career with 357 strikeouts, which have her fifth on the all-time list.
Several Rocket hitters entered the school's top-five in single season categories. Sanchez's eight home runs tie her for second with four other players for the most in a single season. The senior catcher's nine career homers are tied for the fifth-most in UT annals as well.
Ricchio's six triples are the second-most in school history (Kelly Meinhart, 8, 1985), and Jillian Spink finds herself second on the school's single-season list after getting plunked by 12 pitches this year (Alison Hess, 17, 2007).
Contact: Scott Miles
scott.miles@utoledo.edu
