MONTGOMERY, Ala.— The Toledo baseball team opened up its weekend series at Alabama State under the lights on Friday night, falling 6-5 to the Hornets.

The Rockets led 5-1 before allowing four runs in the bottom of the fifth. With the score tied at 5-5, ASU took the lead on a two-out home run in the bottom of the seventh, the game-winning run in a 6-5 decision.

"That was a tough game tonight," head coach Rob Reinstetle said. "You have to give their starting pitcher credit, he found a way to stick around and battled when we had him on the ropes early. We played a pretty good game. Our defense was very solid, the offense found ways to score, and besides the fifth inning, our pitching held them in check. Once again though, the free passes got us in the fifth inning. We have to find a way to stop giving up the big inning. We can't dwell on it for long, we have two games tomorrow and need to play better and get some wins."

Senior Layne Schnitz-Paxton started Friday's game and threw five innings before being relieved by sophomore Kyle Jones. Jones threw three innings out of the pen, striking out six and walking just one. At the plate, junior John Servello was credited with two RBIs and junior Lorenzo DeBrecht tallied a pair of base hits. Sophomore Darryn Davis reached base three times, walking twice and recording an RBI single.

Toledo and Alabama State will face off twice on Saturday in a doubleheader beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.

How it Happened

• Davis opened the game with a walk and later came in to score on a wild pitch to give the Rockets an early 1-0 lead.
• Alabama State tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI fielder's choice in the bottom half of the first.
• Toledo took a 3-1 lead in the top of the third inning. With the bases loaded and one out, an Alabama State fielding error allowed juniors Trace Hatfield and Zach Schwartzenberger to score and give the Rockets a two-run lead.
• Toledo plated two more runs in the top of the fourth to jump ahead 5-1, an inning highlighted by an RBI single from Davis.
• The Hornets tied it up at 5-5 in the bottom of the fifth. A squeeze bunt brought home a run, then a bases-clearing, three-run triple closed the gap and put Alabama State and Toledo in a stalemate through five innings.
• With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, ASU's Jabronski Williams hit a solo home run to right field to put the Hornets ahead, 6-5.
• The Rockets nearly tied the game in the top of the eighth, putting a runner on third with one out, but they were unable to drive him in.