Athens, Ohio— The Toledo baseball team opened up its weekend series with a 16-5 defeat at the hands of the Ohio Bobcats on Friday.
The Rockets scored the first run of the game in the top of the first on an RBI single from sophomore
Trace Hatfield. Ohio, however, put together three big offensive innings in its victory, scoring five runs in the third, four in the fifth, and five in the sixth. OU tacked on another two runs in the bottom of the eighth, while UT added four in the top of the ninth.
After making his collegiate debut earlier this week, sophomore
Andrew Compton recorded his first-career extra-base hit and RBI across two at-bats. Sophomores
Trace Hatfield and
Zach Schwartzenberger also drove in runs for UT.
Freshman pitcher
Jeff Dunsmore made his Rocket debut in the eighth inning. Sophomore
Bryce Davis pitched a scoreless seventh inning, recording two of the three outs by strikeout.
With rain expected in the forecast for Sunday, the Rockets and Bobcats will play a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. to conclude the weekend.
How it Happened
- Toledo took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single from Hatfield. He slapped one through the right side of the infield and senior Brad Boss came around to score from second.
- Ohio's offense produced five runs in the bottom of the third. After the first batter struck out, the second hitter of the inning homered to right field to tie the game. A bases-loaded walk brought in the go-ahead run, and a bases-clearing double gave the Bobcats a 5-1 lead.
- OU tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the fifth. A pair of two-run doubles did the damage and put the Rockets in a 9-1 hole through five frames.
- The Bobcats had another five-run inning in the bottom of the sixth, with the big swing being a grand slam to left-center field and making the score 14-1.
- Two more Ohio runs came in to score in the bottom of the eighth, both via bases-loaded walks.
- Toledo scored four runs in the top of the ninth: Schwartzenberger tallied an RBI single, Compton walked with the bases loaded, and runs came in to score via and Ohio error and wild pitch, respectively, to cap the scoring on Friday.