Toledo, Ohio— The Toledo baseball team dropped its series opener against Ball State on Friday, 7-5.

For the Rockets, freshman John Servello tied a career high with four hits. Senior Brad Boss and freshman Trace Hatfield both tallied two hits apiece, while junior Ross Adolph drove in two runs. Sophomore starting pitcher Joey Prechtel threw six innings for UT, striking out four and allowing three runs. Senior Alex Wagner, sophomore Layne Schnitz-Paxton, and freshman Alec Bukowski all made relief appearances.

Ball State took an early 1-0 lead before Toledo tied it up in the fourth. Both squads went back and forth for much of the middle portion of the contest before BSU pulled away with a three-run eighth inning. UT scored two in the bottom of the ninth to make it closer, but was unable to close the gap.

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

How it Happened

• Ball State took a 1-0 lead after the top half of the first inning on an RBI groundout.
• Toledo tied it up in the bottom of the fourth. Boss singled in Adolph to make the score 1-1. It marked the first of four consecutive half innings in which a team scored a run.
• The Cardinals answered with an RBI single of their own in the top of the fifth, then Servello tied the game again in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI base hit to right field.
• In the top of the seventh, the pendulum once again swung in Ball State's direction. BSU took a 4-2 lead on a two-out fielding miscue by the Rockets on a play that would have ended the inning.
• Adolph's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh pulled Toledo within one, 4-3.
• Ball State pulled ahead with a three-run eighth. A two-run double and a bases-loaded walk did the damage and put the Rockets in a 7-3 hole.
• For the second straight home game, Toledo made a valiant comeback attempt in the bottom of the ninth. Adolph drove in a run and senior Dalton Bollinger reached on an error to bring in another score. The two runs would be it, though, and the Midnight Blue and Gold fell by a score of 7-5.