Toledo to Face Cincinnati this Weekend

Toledo, Ohio— The Toledo baseball team heads to Cincinnati this weekend to square off against the Bearcats. Friday's series opener is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday's contests will be played at 1:00 p.m.

There will be a free live stream link for all three games through Cincinnati's website and those links are provided below. Live stats for the whole weekend can be found here and, as always, follow along on Twitter at @ToledoBaseball for any and all updates.

Friday Live Stream | Saturday Live Stream | Sunday Live Stream

Probable Starters
Friday: at Cincinnati, 4:00 p.m. (LHP JT Perez vs. LHP Michael Jacob)
Saturday: at Cincinnati, 1:00 p.m. (LHP Cam Alldred vs. RHP Sam Shutes)
Sunday: at Cincinnati, 1:00 p.m. (RHP Nathan Kroger vs. TBA)

Last Time Out
The Rockets wrapped up their spring break road trip with a three-game series at Georgia last weekend. They were shut out on Friday, 7-0, and dropped both games of a Saturday doubleheader: 8-3 in game one and 7-6 in game two.

In game one, the Rockets surrendered one run each in the third, fourth, and fifth innings before UGA broke the game open with a four-run eighth. UT had chances offensively, most notably in the final two innings, but was unable to push a run across the plate.

The Rockets scored late runs in both games on Saturday, but were able to come all the way back in the night cap to tie it up. Toledo scored four runs in the seventh and one in the eighth even the game at 6-6. Despite forcing extra innings against Georgia in the second game, UT fell at the hands of a walk-off sacrifice fly.

Rocket Notes

UT's scheduled home opener against Findlay on Wednesday, March 14 was canceled. The Rockets will open up at home next Wednesday, March 21 against Youngstown State.
Toledo's offense has flexed its muscles the first 14 games this year. UT leads the MAC in home runs (13), doubles (30), and is second in slugging percentage (.409).
Senior Matt Hansen hasn't struck out since the second game of Toledo's doubleheader at Austin Peay (2/23), a streak of 40 at-bats. He is also riding a 13-game on-base streak entering the weekend, tied for the team-high in 2018 with senior Brad Boss.
Toledo has a trio of players who are among the most experienced in the country. Hansen (675) and senior AJ Montoya (687) are among the 25 players with the most career at-bats in Division I, making UT the only team in the country with two players inside the top 25. Fellow veteran Sam Shutes has made 44 starts in his career as a Rocket, tied for sixth-most among active Division I starters.

Shutes Earns MAC Recognition
Senior Sam Shutes was named MAC Co-Pitcher of the Week last Thursday after his stellar start against Sacred Heart. He threw six scoreless innings in the 7-2 win over Sacred Heart at the LSU Baseball Invitational and struck out a career-high 11 batters. Shutes allowed just two hits, the fewest in a start in his career, and walked one.

Scouting the Competition
Cincinnati will enter the weekend fresh off a Thursday contest at Wright State. As of Wednesday, the Bearcats hold a record of 7-8, most recently being swept at home by Tennessee.

Offensively, UC is led by senior Kyle Mottice, who is hitting .339 and has scored a team-high 12 runs. The Bearcats are hitting .256 as a team and averaged 4.4 runs per game. On the pitching staff, Friday starter senior JT Perez owns a 2.16 ERA over four starts. Cincinnati's pitching as a whole is among the best in the country at limiting walks, averaging just 2.35 per nine innings which ranks fourth in the country.

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Players Mentioned

Brad Boss

Matt Hansen

Michael Jacob

AJ Montoya

Sam Shutes

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