Toledo fell to Duke in a pitchers' duel, 2-1, at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Friday, March 4.  With the loss, the Rockets fall to 1-7-1 on the year.

"I thought today was a great college baseball game," head coach Cory Mee said. "It was a tough loss for us but I really liked the way we competed tonight and the determination we showed during the game."

Junior LHP Steven Calhoun took the loss for the Rockets after going deep into the contest.  Calhoun pitched 7.0 innings, allowing eight hits and two earned runs while striking out one.  Freshman Casey Johnson pitched one scoreless inning in relief.

"Steven pitched great for us," Mee said. "He threw seven strong innings including six shutout innings.  I thought it was a good outing for him."

Leading the way offensively was sophomore 1B Dalton Bollinger, who went 1-for-4 with one RBI. Sophomore Matt Hansen also picked up a hit and scored a run.  

Duke pitcher Bailey Clark earned the win after not allowing an earned run and striking out nine batters.

The Rockets jumped on the board first with an RBI single from Bollinger that scored Hansen to give UT a 1-0 lead. Hansen reached on an error by SS Zack Kone.

Duke threatened in fourth with runners on first and third, but senior C Lucas Sokol cut down the Blue Devil runner trying to steal second to end the inning.

Duke took the lead in the seventh with back-to-back doubles from Griffin Conine and Peter Zyla that each plated a runner. 

The Midnight Blue & Gold threatened in the ninth after Bollinger reached on an error.  After a double play, senior 3B Dan Zuchowski reached first on a single but UT could not score.

Toledo is back in action tomorrow for game two of the series with Duke at 5:00 p.m. Senior RHP Ross Achter is expected to take the mound for the Rockets.