TOLEDO, OH - Toledo (12-18, 4-5 MAC) will renew its long-standing rivalry with Bowling Green (8-19, 3-6 MAC) this weekend, April 12-14, in an important Mid-American Conference cross-division series at Scott Park. The first pitch in Friday's opener at the corner of Hill Ave. and Parkside Blvd. is set for 3:05 p.m. with Saturday's and Sunday's matchups beginning at 1:05 p.m. The series finale will also be televised live on BCSN.
The Rockets currently sit in three-way tie with Ball State (14-15, 4-5 MAC) and Eastern Michigan (14-16, 4-5 MAC) for third place in the MAC West Division standings, two games behind frontrunner Northern Illinois (11-19, 6-3 MAC). The 2012 MAC West Division champions are also one contest behind second-place Western Michigan (12-13, 5-4 MAC) and one game ahead of preseason favorite Central Michigan (13-18, 3-6 MAC) for sixth place in the log-jammed standings.
The Rockets will also be looking to build off Tuesday's impressive 10-2 home victory against reigning Atlantic 10 regular-season and tourney champion Dayton. UT scored seven runs in its first two at-bats to record its second win against the Flyers this spring. The Midnight Blue & Gold also posted a 6-1 victory over UD on March 12 at Woerner Field.
Offensively, Toledo is hitting a conference-best .290 (298-for-1,026) with 152 runs (5.1 rpg) scored on 298 hits (9.9 hpg) through the first 30 games this spring (rankings as of April 8).
Individually, junior OF Tyler Grogg is leading the MAC with a .412 (40-for-97) average, followed by senior INF/DH Matt Delewski at .374 (49-for-131), fourth-best mark in the league. Delewski is also pacing the conference in hits (49) and ranks sixth in school history in career hits (217) and tied for 10th in batting average (.329, 217-for-659).
If the regular season ended today, Grogg's .412 batting average would rank seventh in school history in a single season.
While Grogg and Delewski may be the Rockets' most consistent hitters this spring, senior OF Ben Hammer is the teams' hottest hitter as of late. Hammer is in the midst of a season-high 12-game hit streak (March 22-April 9) and is currently batting a team-high .389 (14-for-36) in league games. The fifth-year Rocket has collected a hit in all nine MAC contests, accumulating a team-high .425 on-base percentage and .639 slugging percentage during this stretch.
On the mound, the Rockets are tallying a 5.01 ERA, ninth-best mark in the MAC, through the first 30 contests in 2013 (rankings as of April 8). Toledo is giving up 5.4 runs on 9.0 hits with 5.8 punchouts per game. As a staff, UT's hurlers are limiting the opposition to hit at a .274 clip.
Individually, junior LHP Ryan Wilkinson is pacing the team with a 2.87 ERA, eighth-best total in the league, while senior LHP Kyle Shaw and junior RHP Cameron Palmer are close behind with 4.14 and 4.15 ERAs, respectively.
Tenth-year head coach Cory Mee expects senior LHP Kyle Shaw (3-4, 4.14 ERA, 50.0 IP, 49 H, 25 R, 23 ER, 12 BB, 35 K) and junior RHP Cameron Palmer (1-2, 4.15 ERA, 34.2 IP, 30 H, 16 R, 16 ER, 14 BB, 32 K) to start on Friday and Saturday against Bowling Green, while junior LHP Ryan Wilkinson (3-2, 2.87 ERA, 53.1 IP, 55 H, 24 R, 17 ER, 9 BB, 25 K) will draw the start in Sunday's series finale. Shaw and Wilkinson have appeared in the weekend rotation each of the first eight weeks this spring, while Palmer will make his second-straight weekend start.
The Falcons currently stand in a three-way tie with Akron (7-24, 3-6 MAC) and Ohio (6-24, 3-6 MAC) for third place in the MAC East Division standings, four games behind leader Miami (14-15, 7-2 MAC) and three games beneath Buffalo (16-13, 6-3 MAC) and Kent State (14-16, 6-3 MAC). Last weekend, BGSU lost two of three contests vs. Eastern Michigan before bouncing back with a midweek, non-league victory at Ball State. Bowling Green owns a .253 batting average and is tallying 4.3 runs on 8.6 hits per game. Patrick Lancaster paces the team with a .303 mark, followed closely by T.J. Losby at .297.
On the hill, BGSU has a respectable 4.22 ERA and opponents are batting .275 against them. Their pitchers have tallied 179 strikeouts while issuing 89 walks.
Last spring, Toledo swept its three-game series against Bowling Green by scores of 9-4, 16-8 and 2-1 (11 inn.) at Warren E. Steller Field. The Rockets posted a scorching .374 (46-for-123) team batting average and averaged 9.0 runs per contest to win the series against the Falcons for the first time since 2007. UT also accumulated a respectable 3.10 ERA and surrendered only 10 earned runs in the three victories.
Individually, former Rocket Joe Corfman batted a team-high .600 (9-for-15), followed by Hammer, Delewski and former Rocket Mark Lapikas with impressive .533 (8-for-15), .462 (6-for-13) and .429 (6-for-14) marks, respectively.
Following this weekend's action, Toledo will travel to Big Ten member Michigan State on Tuesday, April 16 for a 3:05 p.m. first pitch at McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field.
