TOLEDO, OH - Toledo (10-35-1, 8-10 MAC) will continue its seven-game homestand this weekend against Mid-American Conference West Division leader Ball State (29-20, 14-7 MAC) on Friday-Sunday, May 13-15 at Scott Park. Friday's first pitch from the corner of Hill Avenue and Parkside Boulevard is slated for 3:05 p.m., while Saturday's and Sunday's contests will begin at 1:05 p.m.

Prior to the start of Sunday's series finale, the Rockets will recognize their nine seniors - Ryan Callahan, Cory Finkler, Kevin Kline, John Martillotta, Caleb Schillace, Lucas Sokol, Anthony Smith, Deion Tansel and Dan Zuchowski.

UT is currently tied for fourth place in the MAC West Division and tied for sixth in the overall league standings, while BSU is first in the West Division and second overall. Toledo is tied with Western Michigan (15-28, 8-10 MAC) and Central Michigan (16-33, 8-10 MAC) in the overall standings, but the Rockets do not hold the tiebreaker against either team. 

With only six conference games remaining, UT looks to secure a berth in the MAC Tournament for a seventh time in the last eight years. The top eight teams as determined by conference winning percentage, regardless of division, will participate in the post-season, double-elimination tournament, which is slated to start at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, OH on May 25-29.

The Midnight Blue & Gold is also looking to continue its outstanding league play as of late, as UT has won its last four contests, including a three-game sweep at then MAC West Division co-leader Northern Illinois this past weekend. The Rockets have posted a scorching .372 (54-for-145) batting average and averaged 9.0 runs (36) on 13.5 hits (54) per contest during this stretch. UT also accumulated a miniscule 2.25 ERA and surrendered only nine earned runs (13 total) with only six walks and 24 punchouts in the four victories. 

Individually, sophomore INF Matt Hansen is batting a team-high .600 (6-for-10), followed by senior INF John Martillotta (9-for-19), senior INF Deion Tansel (7-for-17), senior OF Cory Finkler (7-for-18) and sophomore UTIL Brad Boss (6-for-16) with impressive .474, .412, .389 and .375 averages, respectively.

On the mound, Toledo will utilize the same starting rotation for a sixth-consecutive weekend against BSU. Junior LHP Steven Calhoun (3-8, 5.65 ERA, 65.1 IP, 22 BB, squad-best 44 K) and senior LHP Ross Achter (5-6, 3.17 ERA, team-high 71.0 IP, 27 BB, 43 K) are slated to start on Friday and Saturday, while junior RHP Sam Shutes (1-4, 3.97 ERA, 47.2 IP, 17 BB, 32 K) will get the nod in Sunday's series finale. Calhoun and Achter have each made a team-high 12 starts this spring, tied for second-most in the MAC, while Shutes has made 10 starts. 

Achter has been tremendous as a weekend starter over the last five weekends and worked at least 6.2 frames on four occasions during this stretch, including a career-best 8.1 shutout innings at NIU last Saturday. The senior gave up seven strikeouts with only one free pass and three punchouts against the Huskies to earn his team-best fifth victory of the spring.

Offensively, Tansel is hitting a team-high .311 (59-for-190) with a squad-best 33 runs scored, a team-tying high nine doubles, two round trippers, 21 RBI, and a squad-high 11 stolen bases. The Grand Rapids, OH native has been playing his best baseball as of late, reaching base in 15 of the last 16 contests.

The Cardinals enter this weekend's division showdown having won their last two conference series, taking two of three games against both Buffalo and most recently Eastern Michigan. Earlier this week, BSU dropped a 16-8 decision to Indiana State at home.

BSU owns a .292 batting average, the second-best mark in the MAC, and is tallying 6.8 runs (334) on 10.0 hits (488) per game. Caleb Stayton is pacing the team with a league-best .388 (73-for-188) average and is followed closely by the quintet of Alex Call (73-for-200), Roman Baisa (24-for-74), Jarett Rindfleisch (51-for-161), Alex Maloney (61-for-196) and Zach Plesac (17-for-56) with .365, .324, .317, .311 and .304 marks, respectively.

Stayton is also pacing the conference in RBI (64) and is tied with Call for the top mark in hits, while Call is first in total bases (134), doubles (23) and runs scored (62).

On the mound, Ball State owns a 4.17 ERA and opponents are batting .271 against them. Their pitchers have tallied 344 punchouts while issuing 196 walks.

Last spring, Toledo won two of three regular-season games against BSU on the road to capture the series for a second time in the last four years. UT was victorious in the final two match-ups in the weekend set, 6-1 and 8-3, after sustaining a 4-3 loss in the opener. The division members also squared off in the first round of the MAC Tournament, with the Rockets dropping a 3-2 neutral-site decision.

UT hit .257 (36-for-140) and averaged 4.8 runs (19) on 9.0 hits (36) in the four contests, while BSU tallied a .242 (30-for-124) average and totaled 2.8 runs (4) on 7.5 hits (30).

Individually, Tansel batted a team-high .471 (8-for-17), followed by sophomore INF Dalton Bollinger (6-for-16) and Hansen (6-for-17) with solid .375 and .353 marks, respectively.

Following this weekend's action, Toledo will wrap up its regular season against Eastern Michigan on Thursday-Saturday, May 19-21 at Scott Park.