BOCA RATON, FL – Toledo dropped both of its games on the opening day of FAU's Strike Out Cancer Tournament in Boca Raton, FL. In its first of two matchups, the Rockets dropped a 5-4 heartbreaker to Tulsa. Sophomore P Heather Webb (1-1) suffered her first loss of the season after allowing five runs on eight hits in six innings. UT then fell in its second contest to host Florida Atlantic, 8-0. With the defeats, Toledo drops to 1-6 on the season.
 
GAME 1 vs. Tulsa
 
The Golden Hurricane opened up the scoring with three runs scored on a single and a double in the bottom half of the second frame.
 
Senior 2B Chandler Rice (3-for-4) put Toledo on the board with a solo home run in the top of the third.
 
After three scoreless innings for both squads, Rice hit a two-out three-run bomb to give Toledo a 4-3 lead.
 
Webb gave up two base hits in the bottom half of the seventh inning and was replaced by freshman Alissa Noble after an illegal pitch advanced the runners to second and third. The Golden Hurricane was able plate a pair of runs on two Rocket errors to win the contest.
 
"I think we showed a lot of resilience today," said Head Coach Kristen Butler. "Chandler was clutch all day by recording all of our RBI on her two home runs. That was a big showing of her senior leadership and I'm expecting to see that from her all season."
 
"We just have to do a better job at closing out our games," added Butler. "Chandler came up big for us in the seventh and we needed to be able to close out defensively. Heather threw a great game up until the last inning. We need to be able to put away the game when it matters."
 
GAME 2 vs. Florida Atlantic
 
Freshman 3B Samantha Golden (2-for-3) and freshman 1B Morgan Paaverud (2-for-3) each recorded two hits for Toledo.
 
The Owls scored first on a wild pitch in the opening frame, and added one in the second on a home run.
 
FAU extended its lead in the fourth with four runs scored on a pair of doubles. The Owls then tacked on two more on an RBI double to deep center.
 
Sophomore Kailey Minarchick (5 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 1 K) recorded her second loss of the season. She was replaced  by freshman Leah Allison in the top of the sixth frame who allowed two runs on three hits and struck out three.

Toledo will return to the field tomorrow to take on Syracuse at 1:30 p.m. and St. John's at 3:45 p.m.