TOLEDO, Ohio - Junior left fielder Brad Boss laced a two-out, walk-off single past a diving shortstop in the 13th inning to give Toledo a 9-8 win over Mid-American Conference foe Western Michigan on Sunday afternoon at Mercy Field. With the win, the Rockets take the best of three series, 2-1.

Toledo (8-20, 2-4 MAC) battled back from deficits to tie the score in the ninth, 10th and 13th innings, before finally breaking through on Boss' game-winner. Boss, junior AJ Montoya and senior Corey Tipton each recorded two hits, many of which were in clutch situations late in the game. 

Western Michigan (13-11, 3-3 MAC) was set down in order in the first inning by senior Sam Shutes, who pitched a strong 7.0 innings. Toledo wasted no time finding its way into the scoring column in the first inning. Boss singled, sophomore Riley Campbell walked and both advanced on a sacrifice bunt by junior Matt Hansen. Junior Dalton Bollinger worked a 3-0 count and was eventually intentionally walked to load the bases. With a runner at third and less than two outs, Montoya lifted a fly ball to right field, deep enough to score Boss from third to give the Rockets a 1-0 edge.

The Broncos took the lead off Shutes, 2-1, in the third inning on a lead off double, a throwing error by Shutes himself and an RBI single. After relinquishing the lead, Shutes locked in to keep WMU off the scoreboard for the next three innings. However, the Toledo offense was held hitless from the fourth to the sixth frame.

The Rockets fell behind, 3-1, in the seventh inning on a well executed suicide squeeze play by Western Michigan. The two-run lead looked to be enough for Broncos' starting pitcher Kyle Mallwitz, who rubber-armed 134 pitches in 8.2 innings on the mound.

Tipton answered the seventh-inning run with a tally of his own. The Grand Rapids, Ohio native connected on an 0-1 offering and deposited it over the fence in left field, making the score 3-2. 

Shutes' day was done after 103 pitches, allowing two runs on four hits, a walk, and four strikeouts. Sophomore Michael Jacob was given the nod in the eighth to keep the deficit at a single run. Jacob did exactly that, throwing two scoreless innings to give the Rockets a chance in the bottom of the ninth.

On the second pitch to the lead off hitter Montoya, the St. Joseph's, Mich. product blasted a solo home run to left, tying the game at 3-3 and forcing extra innings.

Western Michigan finally cracked Jacob's armor, getting to the left-handed reliever for three runs in the top of the 10th. The Broncos needed just three outs with a 6-3 lead.

Senior Jake Krupar was called upon to pinch hit and skied a single to right field to lead off the inning. Campbell drew his third walk of the game which brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Hansen. Hansen, who homered in Friday's game, drove a 1-1 fastball over the fence in right, sending Mercy Field into a frenzy and knotting the game at 6-6.

Senior Josh Cales took the ball in the 11th inning and retired three straight batters after a lead off single. The Rockets went three up and three down in the bottom of the inning, but Cales worked around a one-out single to put up another zero in the 12th.

After a harmless inning of offense, Cales was lifted in favor of Luke Schaefer due to a lead off single and a sacrifice bunt. An intentional walk put two runners aboard and an infield single loaded the bases with two out for Tanner Allison. Allison, who leads the Broncos in average, RBIs and home runs, laced a two-out, two run double down the right field line, giving WMU an 8-6 lead.

The Rockets had work to do in the bottom half as Montoya started with inning with a single up the middle. Pinch hitter Jordan Kesson nearly tied the game with a home run, but flied out to the base of the fence in left field. Sophomore Ross Adolph, who was 0-for-5 at the time, came through in a clutch spot with a ringing double off the fence in left. Montoya stopped at third to put multiple runners in scoring position.

It was Tipton's turn again, and again he came through, this time with a two-run double to the ally in left center, scoring Montoya and Adolph and leveling the runs at 8-8. Junior Casey Gose, a defensive replacement in the 11th inning, hit a slow chopper on the infield and was thrown out on a bang-bang play at first. The ground out moved Tipton to third for Boss.

Boss took the first pitch and lined the second offering through the left side for the game winner. The Rockets poured out of the third base dugout to greet Boss just behind first base.

Schaefer (1-0) is credited with the win for 0.2 inning, while Andrew Reisinger (0-3) takes the loss for WMU.

This was the Rockets' first walk-off victory since a 4-3, 16-inning affair over Central Michigan on April 4, 2015. The walk-off hit in that game was a single from none other than then-freshman Matt Hansen.

Toledo travels to Wright State for non-conference action on Tuesday, April 4 and hosts Dayton on Wednesday, April 5. The next MAC series takes the Rockets down I-75 to rival Bowling Green from April 7-9.