Toledo, Ohio— Toledo (13-21, 7-6 MAC) won its series opener against Eastern Michigan (13-21, 7-6 MAC) on Friday, 3-2, in walk-off fashion. Tied at 2-2 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Rockets used some clutch hitting and took advantage of two costly EMU errors to seal the deal.

The Eagles scored the first run of the game in the second inning, but UT tied the game in the third courtesy of a solo home run from senior Brad Boss. A sacrifice fly in the sixth gave EMU a 2-1 lead, but freshman Trace Hatfield's first home run as a Rocket in the seventh inning knotted the game at 2-2. In the bottom of the ninth, sophomore Michael Ryan squared up and laid down a sacrifice bunt that was fielded cleanly, but the throw sailed over the first baseman and allowed freshman Chris Meyers to score from second base, handing UT its first walk-off win of the year.

On the mound, sophomore Joey Prechtel stepped up in a big way for Toledo. Entering the game with one out in the third inning, Prechtel threw 5.1 frames of one-run ball, striking out four and walking none. Junior Nate Haugh tacked on 1.1 scoreless innings at the end of the game to earn his first win of the year.

The Rockets and Eagles will resume their series on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. at Scott Park
 
 

How it Happened

• EMU's Nate Jones drove in the first run of the game in the second inning on a two-out, RBI single up the middle.
• Prechtel entered the game with one out in the top of the third and his day started on an exciting note. The first batter he faced hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield that was snagged by a diving Meyers, leading to a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
• Boss smoked his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the third, lifting an 0-2 pitch over the fence in right field.
• Eastern Michigan reclaimed the lead in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly to right field. Eli Gora led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and was moved up 90 feet after a sacrifice bunt, allowing him to score easily on the sac fly.
• Hatfield led off the bottom of the seventh with his first collegiate home run to tie the game at 2-2. Facing a hitter's count, he drove his pitch over the fence in left field.
• With two outs in the top of the ninth, a ball was driven into the gap in right center field. Junior Ross Adolph expertly tracked it down and made a spectacular diving catch for the third out.
• Meyers led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single to left center field. Then, Hatfield's routine fly ball to left field was anything but. The ball fell in and out of the glove of EMU's left fielder, allowing Hatfield to reach safely and Meyers to move to second.
• Ryan dropped a sacrifice bunt that was fielded cleanly by the pitcher. However, his throw over to first whizzed by the first baseman, and the second error of the inning allowed Meyers to score easily and give UT a 3-2 victory.