TOLEDO, OH – Toledo used a strong pitching performance from junior LHP Steven Calhoun and a three-run third inning to grab game one from Eastern Michigan (20-32, 10-12), 4-2, at Scott Park on Thursday, May 19. With the win, the Rockets have won seven of their last nine league games and improve to 16-36-1 and 11-11 in the Mid-American Conference.
 
"We picked up a great pitching performance from Steven today," head coach Cory Mee said. "He held down a potent Eastern Michigan offense."
 
Calhoun limited EMU to just five hits over 8.0 innings. The junior fanned four batters and allowed just two earned runs to score during his 104-pitch outing. Junior RHP Josh Cales earned his second-career save after tossing 1.0 frame and not allowing a runner to reach base.
                                                                                     
The pitching staff helped give the Rockets valuable positioning in the MAC standings. The victory puts UT in a tie for sixth place in the MAC. Toledo can finish as high as the fourth seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament.
 
Senior SS Deion Tansel led the way for the Rockets at the plate. Tansel drove in two RBI on a single and double. The three, four and five hitters all picked up at least one RBI today, as sophomore 1B Dalton Bollinger and senior 3B John Martillotta also plated a runner. Senior RF Cory Finkler, Tansel, and sophomore 2B Matt Hansen scored the runs for the Rockets.
 
"It was big for us to jump on top early in the game," Mee said. "We came right back and tagged some runs on in third. We got off to a good start and executed our formula for success."
 
Tansel grabbed the lead for UT in the first inning with a single to left field to score Finkler. Tansel was thrown out at second trying to stretch the single into a double.
 
Tansel drove in another RBI in the third with a double down the right field line to give UT a 2-0 advantage. Bollinger singled to center field to give Finkler his second run of the game, and Martillotta brought Tansel home on a fielder's choice for a 4-0 Toledo lead.
 
Meanwhile, Calhoun was cruising for UT. Calhoun tossed eight efficient innings and had just one blemish in the eighth. Mitchell Mcgeein hit a two-run home run to left-center field that scored Max Schuemann.
 
Cales closed the door on EMU in the ninth for his second-career save.
 
Toledo will continue its series with Eastern Michigan on Friday, May 20 at 3:05 p.m. at the friendly confines of Scott Park.
 
PITCHING
Calhoun (W, 5): 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 K, 5 BB
Cales (S, 2): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 0 BB