MACON, Ga. – Senior Erin Hunt hurled a three-hit shutout and senior Dayna Denner collected a team-high four hits to help Toledo split the first two games of its 2021 campaign on Friday at Mercer's Black and Orange Challenge.  The Rockets opened the day with a 7-0 victory over Alabama A&M before falling by a 7-1 margin to Pitt.
 
"It was just nice to be out playing again on a great field and in nice weather," Head Coach Joe Abraham said. "We're so glad to be able to play games. We're at a bit of a disadvantage this weekend since our opponents have each played five ore more games, but we'll quickly catch up."
 
Hunt fanned eight batters and didn't allow a baserunner to advance past first base in the Rockets' 7-0 victory over the Bulldogs.
 
"Erin came out for her first time throwing on dirt since October and picked up right where she left off," Abraham said. "She got ahead of most hitters and gave Alabama A&M nothing."
 
Freshman Annika Johnson started the second game for Toledo but was hurt by three errors that put the Rockets in a 4-1 hole after three innings.
 
"Annika threw fairly well in her first college game," Abraham said. "She isn't going to get a ton of strikeouts which means our defense has to be on top of its game and we weren't. We gave an ACC team extra outs and it cost us. We also struggled to adjust at the plate, but their pitcher did a great job of mixing it up and hitting her spots."

Joining Denner with multi-hit days were senior Raelyn Nyren and freshman Jenna Kroll.
 
Toledo will face Pitt and Alabama A&M again tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., respectively. The Rockets will wrap up the weekend on Sunday with a 10:00 a.m. matchup vs. the host Bears.
 
GAME 1 - Toledo 7, Alabama A&M 0

• Raelyn Nyren blasted a two-run double to left-center to put Toledo in front, 2-0, in the top of the second.
• Dayna Denner increased the Rockets' margin to 3-0 in the third with an opposite-field homer to left-center.
• Homers from Nyren and Aleah Marra in the fourth extended Toledo's lead to 5-0.
• The Rockets scored two unearned runs in the fifth for their final runs.

 
GAME 2 - Pittsburgh 7, Toledo 1

• Pitt took advantage of a two-out Rocket error to plate the game's first run in the bottom of the first on a double from Morgan Batesole.
• Toledo evened the score following a Panther miscue in the top of the second. Aubrey Reed and Lily Beyer each singled before Reed scored on a throwing error by Pitt's catcher.
• The Panthers answered quickly in the bottom of the second, gaining a 3-1 lead following Kayla Lane's sacrifice fly and EC Taylor's RBI single.
• Walker Barbee homered in the third to extend Pitt's cushion to 4-1
• The Panthers closed out the game's scoring with three runs in the bottom of the fifth.