TOLEDO, OH – Toledo clinched the fifth seed in the upcoming Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 14-2 win over Eastern Michigan. With the win, the Rockets sweep the Eagles and improve to 18-36-1 overall and 13-11 in the MAC.
 
"Going into the tournament, it's a fresh season," head coach Cory Mee said. "We're going to have to play well, but I like the way we are playing right now."
Looking at today's game, Mee is happy with the performance his team closed the regular season with.
 
"It was a great team win and we executed our formula for success," Mee said. "We picked up outstanding pitching performances from our starter Sam and the bullpen. Offensively, we continued to put up quality at-bats and it showed on the scoreboard. Overall, it was a solid team effort."
 
After losing the lead in the third, UT lit the scoreboard up for 14 unanswered runs. The Rockets offense capitalized on opportunities throughout the game, and also forced EMU to commit seven errors.
 
Sophomore 1B Dalton Bollinger hit the only extra base hit of the day with a double. Bollinger also plated two runners and had a game-high three hits. Three Rockets – senior RF Cory Finkler, senior SS Deion Tansel and sophomore 2B Matt Hansen – also had multi-RBI games. Sophomore DH Brad Boss, sophomore CF AJ Montoya and junior PH Jacob Britt also brought home one RBI during the contest.
Seven Rockets scored two runs during the game.
 
"We've cut down on our number of strikeouts and we're putting pressure on opposing defenses by putting the ball in play," Mee said. "Sometimes when you do that you can catch some breaks."

The pitching also added to the stellar offensive performance. Junior RHP Sam Shutes tossed 6.0 quality innings on his way to his second victory of the season. Shutes did not allow an earned run to score and scattered six hits while fanning one batter. The bullpen slammed the door on EMU, allowing just four runners to reach in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning. Freshman RHP Luke Schaefer tossed 1.1 innings, sophomore LHP Alex Wagner threw 1.0 frame and sophomore RHP Nolan Silberhorn closed the game with 0.2 innings.
 
EMU jumped on the board first after Mitchell McGeein reached on a fielding error from Montoya to score Austin Wilson in the top of the third inning. Brennan Williams singled to center field to score McGeein. Both runs were unearned.
 
Toledo began its run of 14-unanswered runs in the bottom half of the frame. Tansel started the scoring with a single up the middle to score Finkler and Hansen and tie the game at 2-2.
 
UT gained the lead in the fourth. Hansen drew a bases loaded walk to score Martillotta to give UT a 3-2 advantage. After a fielder's choice from Finkler scored Adolph, Boss singled through the right side to score Sokol to cap the three-run inning and give Toledo a 5-2 lead.
 
The Midnight Blue & Gold extended its lead in the sixth. FInker ripped a RBI single down the right field line to score Sokol for the second time in the contest. Bollinger picked up a RBI with a single to left field, and Martillotta brought home two runners on an error by the second baseman. Montoya ended the scoring in the sixth with a sacrifice fly that scored Bollinger to extend the UT advantage to 10-2.
 
The Rockets added four runs in the eighth. Bollinger picked up his second RBI of the day with a double to left field to score Tansel. Hansen singled through the right side to score Bollinger and Krupar brought home Martillotta on a fielding error by the second baseman. Britt brought home the final run of the game on a bases loaded walk that scored Adolph to make the game 14-2.
 
Toledo will continue the season on Wednesday, May 25 at 8:00 p.m. against Northern Illinois at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, OH. The game will the final contest of the first day of the MAC tournament.