Spartanburg, SC – Toledo (3-11) split its games on the final day of USC-Upstate's Buffalo Wild Wings Classic. The Rockets handed Western Carolina its first loss of the season, 4-2, but then dropped its contest to Upstate, 4-1.
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Senior 2B
Chandler Rice paced Toledo's offense, going 2-for-6 with two home runs and two RBI. Six other Rockets picked up a hit on the day.
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"We did a great job getting game one today," said Head Coach
Kristen Butler. "Alissa and Kailey did a great job in the circle for us, and Chandler had a good day at the plate getting runs for us in both games."
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Toledo vs. WCU (W, 4-2)
The Catamounts jumped into a 2-0 lead in the opening frame. Freshman
Leah Allison was replaced by freshman
Alissa Noble after walking two and allowing two earned runs in the inning.
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Rice knotted the score in the third with a two-run homer past left field. Rice scored junior
Marriah Wise who had reached on a walk.
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Toledo opened up the fourth frame with two quick outs. Freshman
Samantha Golden kept the Rockets alive with a double to deep left field. Golden was then able to plate a run on a single by junior
Samantha Showalter.
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Rice scored UT's final run on a sacrifice bunt by senior
Ashley Maynard in the fifth inning.
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Noble (1-3) secured her first win for the Rockets after throwing for six frames and striking out three batters.
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Sophomore
Kailey Minarchick recorded her second save of the season after replacing Noble in the seventh.
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Toledo vs. Upstate (L, 4-1)
Toledo got on the board first after Rice recorded her second homer of the day. Rice hit a solo blast down the left-field line.
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Upstate quickly answered back with a solo home run of its own in the bottom of the inning. The Spartans extended its lead with a two-run bomb in the second, and scored their final run on an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth.
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Starting pitcher
Heather Webb (1-3) was saddled with the loss after allowing four earned runs on six hits. Webb was relieved in the bottom of the sixth by Minarchick.
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The Midnight Blue & Gold will head to Hawaii next week for a pair of tournaments hosted by the University of Hawai'i.
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