TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo baseball team heads to Birmingham to face Samford in a three-game series this weekend.

Friday's opener is set for a 5:00 p.m. ET start, first pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET, and the series finale on Sunday will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET. All three games this weekend will be available on ESPN+, and fans can also follow along on Twitter at @ToledoBaseball for updates.

Probable Starters
Friday: Watch | Live Stats | RHP Kyle Jones vs. LHP Samuel Strickland
Saturday: Watch | Live Stats | RHP Jordan Power vs. RHP Jesse McCord
Sunday:  Watch | Live Stats | RHP Chris Meyers vs. RHP Zach Hester

Last Time Out
Toledo visited Davidson last weekend and came home winless in three games against the Wildcats.

After dropping both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday, the Rockets were on the wrong end of a 16-14 offensive explosion on Sunday. Both teams combined for 30 hits and nine home runs, five of which came in the final three innings. Chris Meyers was 4-for-5 at the plate in that game with two home runs and tied a career high with five RBI. Trace Hatfield was 4-for-6 and also tied his career high in RBI with four. Mason Sykes drove in two runs, walked twice, and scored five times. Ryan Thompson provided some late-game heroics with a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the top of the ninth. 

Chris Meyers Named MAC Player of the Week
Chris Meyers was named MAC Player of the Week for the second time in his career on Tuesday.

Meyers was excellent at the plate in the Rockets' weekend series at Davidson. The Miamisburg, Ohio native hit .500 in the three-game series and slugged 1.083. Meyers had a career day in Sunday's 16-14 slugfest, going 4-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI. Meyers leads all MAC players with three home runs and is tied for the league lead with nine RBI through the first two weeks of the season.

Rocket Notes

• Toledo's seven home runs are tied with Miami for most in the Mid-American Conference.
• Chris Meyers leads the league with three homers and his nine RBI are tied with Miami's Will Vogelgesang atop the conference leaderboard.
• Meyers has successful reached base in all six games this year and has reached base in eight straight contests dating back to last year.
• Kyle Jones ranks fifth in the MAC with 10 strikeouts, all coming in outings out of the bullpen. Jones will start his first game of the year on Friday at Samford.

 

Scouting the Competition
Samford is 4-4 on the season after winning at Jacksonville State on Wednesday, 10-9. Three of the Bulldogs' losses came at No. 7 Florida, and its other blemish was an 11-9 midweek setback against Alabama State. Sonny DiChiara is one of seven players in the country with at least five home runs, and his 1.043 slugging percentage is 10^th in the nation.  Samford entered 2021 with high expectations; they were picked to finish first in the Southern Conference in both the preseason coaches poll and media poll, and Brooks Carlson was named SoCon Preseason Player of the Year and a Golden Spikes Award candidate.