DAYTON, Ohio - The Toledo baseball team hit three home runs and scored six runs in the fifth inning en route to an 11-7 win over Dayton on Wednesday afternoon at Spectrum Stadium. With the win, the Rockets have now won four games in a row and five of their last six.
The Rockets (14-23) was handed a pair of Dayton errors in the first inning and took advantage with a pair of run. Sophomore
Riley Campbell singled and moved to third on a failed pick off attempt.
Junior
Matt Hansen reached on an error as Campbell scored the opening run. Senior
Josh Cales got the start as the designated hitter and delivered a two-out RBI single to bring in Hansen.
Toledo did not let up and scored single runs in the second and third innings to make the score 4-0. Junior
Casey Gose started the second inning rally with a one-out walk and went first to third on a single by junior
Brad Boss. Gose scored when Campbell laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt.
Junior
Dalton Bollinger lead off the third with his team high 15th double of the season and scored on a two-out single by senior
Jacob Britt.
Freshman
Joey Prechtel started the game on the mound for UT and pitched 3.1 perfect innings before allowing the first Dayton base runner. A single, a walk and a three-run home run broke up the perfect start and the shutout, getting the flyers right back into the game, 4-3.
After chasing the first two pitches out of the zone, Cales knocked an 0-2 fastball out of the park to give UT a lead off home run and stake the Rockets to a 5-3 lead.
The Midnight Blue & Gold was far from done in the fifth inning. Sophomore
Ross Adolph walked and moved to second on a sac bunt by senior
Corey Tipton. Britt walked to put two runners on base. Both runners were in motion and a throwing error by the Dayton catcher scored Adolph and moved Britt to third.
The next batter, Gose, flipped the lineup with an RBI singled to bring across Britt, making the count 7-3. Boss was waiting at the top of the order and blasted a two-run home run to right, his fourth of the season.
Two batters later, Hansen hit the Rockets' third home run of the inning, a no-doubt shot to right field, to make it 10-3. The home run was Hansen's fifth of the campaign and his third in as many games.
Dayton (11-25) put up a run on a solo home run in the sixth to come within 10-4. But, Toledo had a response. Campbell singled and scored from first as Bollinger doubled for the second time in the contest. Bollinger now has 16 doubles, which ranks among the top 20 in the country.
The Flyers scratched together two runs in the bottom of the seventh and another in the bottom of the ninth to make it interesting, but could get no closer than the 11-7 final.
Prechtel (1-2) earns his first collegiate win for the Rockets. He pitched 4.0 innings and allowed three runs on two hits and two walks.
The Rockets prepare for their next Mid-American Conference series, a three-game set at Kent State starting on Friday, April 21.
