Avon, Ohio—The Toledo baseball team fell to Central Michigan Wednesday night, 7-6, in its first MAC Tournament contest. The Rockets will now face Eastern Michigan in an elimination game Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m.

With the game tied at 6-6 heading into the bottom of the ninth, CMU's Blake Cleveland successfully laid down a bunt that brought in the winning run.

Toledo took an early lead with a two-run second inning, but the Chippewas answered with two scores each in the fourth and fifth. Senior Matt Hansen hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to give the Rockets a lead once again, and that advantage was extended in the top of the eighth. However, Central Michigan scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at 6-6 before the walk-off squeeze bunt ended the game in the ninth.

Hansen and junior Ross Adolph both hit homers for Toledo on Wednesday. Adolph's solo shot in the sixth was his 14th of the season, which ties him for second-most in a single season in school history. Freshmen Trace Hatfield and Chris Meyers both tallied two hits apiece for UT. Sophomore Joey Prechtel started on the mound for Toledo, while junior Nate Haugh and sophomore Austin Calopietro pitched out of the bullpen.


How it Happened

• Toledo scored the first runs of the game in the top of the second inning. Meyers' two-run double to right field scored seniors Dalton Bollinger and Brad Boss easily, putting the Rockets on the board earlier.
• Prechtel's day started with three no-hit innings, but he ran into trouble in the fourth. The first three batters reached base to load the bags with nobody out. One run came around to score on a well-placed infield single and another scored on a bases loaded walk to tie the game.
• CMU took the lead in the bottom of the fifth with two more runs, an RBI single from Zach Gilles doing the damage.
• Adolph led off the top of the sixth with an absolute moonshot, his 14th home run of the season, to pull Toledo within one, 4-3.
• Meyers led off the seventh with a single and later scored on Hansen's two-run homer to right field. The senior captain squared up a 2-0 pitch and sent it sailing over the fence in right for his fourth dinger of the year.
• The Rockets scored for the third straight inning in the top of the eighth. With the bases loaded, senior AJ Montoya hit a ground ball to second base that was mishandled, allowing a run to score and give UT a 6-4 lead.
•  CMU tied the game in the bottom half of the eighth. An RBI groundout to second base brought in the first run and a UT throwing error allowed the tying run to score.
• With men on second and third in the bottom of the ninth, Cleveland dropped a bunt that Calopietro fielded cleanly, but with the runner breaking from third he was unable to throw him out.

Highlights from UT's game against Central Michigan in the first round of the MAC Tournament.


Head Coach Cory Mee post-game.


Junior Ross Adolph post-game.


Senior Matt Hansen post-game.