Baseball | 4/24/2015 9:57:00 AM

MUNCIE, IN - The Rockets suffered a 4-3 setback in Muncie, IN in Game One against Ball State on Friday afternoon. Toledo falls to 15-26 overall and 8-8 in Mid-American Conference play. 

Senior Cameron Palmer was tagged with his sixth loss of the season as the righty gave up four runs on five hits in 6.0 innings of work. Palmer fanned 10 Cardinal batters and walked just one. Junior reliever Ross Achter was solid in his two innings on the bump, tossing a pair of scoreless innings while striking out four. 

Freshman Dalton Bollinger and junior Deion Tansel each tallied a pair of hits in the one-run loss on the Friday. Bollinger and junior John Martillotta each drove in a run for the Rockets. 

The Midnight Blue & Gold jumped on the scoreboard first in the top of the second inning as Bollinger lined a triple to left field which scored Martillotta from first base. However, the Cardinals were able to knot it up at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

The Rockets jumped ahead once again in the top of the sixth as Tansel tripled to lead off the inning for UT. Tansel later trotted home as Martillotta singled up the middle to give Toledo a 2-1 lead. Ball State responded once again, this time in the bottom half of the sixth as they tallied three runs to take a 4-2 lead. 

BSU held the two-run lead until the ninth inning as the Rockets attempted to rally. Toledo captialized on a crucial Ball State error which was enough to cut the lead to 4-3 with runners on second and third. The Cardinals elected to intentionally walk freshman A.J. Montoya to load the bases with two outs. Freshman Matt Hasen was unable to deliver in the clutch and the Rockets fell just 90 feet away from tying the ball game.  

The series continues on Saturday as the UT and Ball State battle in the Game Two at 1:05 p.m. Sophomore southpaw Steven Calhoun is scheduled to start for Toledo.