Muncie, Ind.— The Toledo baseball team played its final game of the 2019 season on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Ball State Cardinals by a score of 11-8.
The Rockets made it a one-run game in the top of the sixth, but Ball State pushed five runs across the plate in the bottom half of the inning. Toledo kept fighting until the final pitch was thrown, though, and scored runs in the seventh and eighth to make it competitive.
Senior
Michael Jacob pitched in his final game as a Rocket, throwing five innings and striking out seven. Sophomore
Kyle Bischoff and freshman
Jamie Myers saw time on the mound, and seniors
Axel Bueter and
Jake Stout combined for 2.2 scoreless innings in their final collegiate games.
Senior
Brad Boss drove in a run in his last game wearing the Midnight Blue and Gold. Sophomores
David Jeffers and
Zach Schwartzenberger both tallied two hits, while Schwartzenberger and freshman
Thomas Eitniear led the way with two RBIs apiece. Sophomore
Drew Compton reached base in all five of his plate appearances, tallying a hit and four walks while scoring twice.
Toledo finishes the season with a record of 17-36.
How it Happened
- Ball State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The first run came about due to a passed ball with runners on second and third, then a single down the line in left field brought in the second score.
- The Cardinals made it 5-0 in the bottom of the second thanks to a pair of two-out singles.
- The Rockets got on the board in the top of the fourth. Freshman Mark Mohnickey ripped a double into the gap in left-center field to score Compton. With two outs, the freshman ripped the first pitch he saw to drive home the first run of the day for the Midnight Blue and Gold.
- Toledo scored two more runs in the fifth, courtesy of Boss and Schwartzenberger, and pulled within two, 5-3. Jeffers and freshman Danny Murphy reached base to start the inning, then Boss send a line drive into right field to score the first run. Schwartzenberger's ground ball resulted in a double play for Ball State, but allowed the second run to score.
- A solo home run for BSU in the bottom of the fifth negated one of the Rockets' runs from the top half and made the score 6-3.
- Eitniear made it a one-run game with his two-run single into right-center field. Compton and sophomore Chris Meyers both reached base to start the inning and later scored on the base hit from Eitniear.
- Ball State's bats poured it on in the bottom of the sixth, scoring five runs to take an 11-5 lead. The Cardinals led off the inning with a solo home run, then later recorded back-to-back homers to emphatically take a six-run lead.
- The Rockets tacked on runs in the seventh and eighth to pull within three. Compton's RBI single in the seventh and Schwartzenberger's two-run base hit in the eighth cut the deficit in half and made the score 11-8.
- Bueter and Stout came in from the bullpen and shut down the BSU hitters. Bueter threw 1.2 perfect innings and struck out two, while Stout send the Cardinals down in order in the bottom of the eighth.