Hammond, La.— The Toledo baseball team nearly slugged its way to a victory on Tuesday night, but fell at Southeastern Louisiana, 7-6.
The Rockets grabbed an early lead, but the Lions came back and edged out in front with three runs in the third inning. Trailing 6-3 in the top of the eighth, senior
Matt Hansen lifted a ball high and deep to right field for his third home run of the season, tying the game at 6-6 with a three-run bomb. Unfortunately, Southeastern answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single to take a 7-6 lead that would hold as the final score.
Offensively, junior
Ross Adolph helped lead the charge for UT with a 3-for-4 evening. Adolph also hit his third home run of the season, and had several more towering blasts that the umpires ruled foul. Hansen also tallied three hits and drove in three on his dinger, while senior
AJ Montoya smacked a home run, his first of the season. Senior
Brad Boss walked twice and has now reached base in all 11 games this season.
Senior
Axel Bueter made his first start as a Rocket, throwing two innings in a game in which UT used eight pitchers.
Next up for Toledo is a weekend series at Georgia. Friday's game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET.
How it Happened
- The Rockets didn't waste any time scoring runs. Hansen reached on an infield single to lead off the game, and two batters later Adolph drove him in with an RBI double.
- Montoya joined the fun in the top of the second with his first home run of the season. The senior blasted a solo shot to left field to lead off the top of the second.
- The Lions homered in the bottom half of the inning to halve the Rockets' lead, making the score 2-1.
- Southeastern took the lead the third inning on a bases loaded double that scored two runs, followed by a run-scoring groundout. The Lions led 4-2 after three frames.
- The Rockets walked in a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to make it 5-2.
- Adolph, who had just missed a home run in his previous two at-bats, launched a solo shot to right field for his third homer of the season. The long ball pulled Toledo within two, 5-3.
- The Rockets turned a double play in the bottom of the seventh inning, on which a Lions' runner came in to score and bring the ledger to 6-3.
- The biggest swing of the game came off the bat of Hansen, who hit a three-run homer to right field in the top of the eighth to tie it up at 6-6.
- Southeastern's Brennan Breaud drove in the game-winning run on a grounder through the left side of the infield in the bottom of the eighth inning. With a runner on third and the infield in, Breaud's grounder squeaked through to bring in the run.