TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo baseball team split its Saturday doubleheader against Ohio, winning the second game 6-5 to avenge an 11-6 loss in game one.

Both teams hit well in the windy conditions on Saturday, combining for 43 hits, including 11 home runs, in the two seven-inning games.

"Game one was a wild one," head coach Rob Reinstetle said. "The wind was howling out and any ball in the air had a chance to go out. We battled but lost the freebie war and that was the difference in the game. Once again, we found a way to get a victory during the back end of the doubleheader. Layne Schnitz-Paxton gave us another good start and kept us in the game and Cal McAninch shut the door in the seventh inning. I thought out offense did a good job all day of finding ways to keep scoring. Tomorrow is a huge day for us. We have another chance to get a series tie in a hard-fought MAC weekend."

In game one, the Rockets allowed five runs in the first inning and could not overcome that early deficit. Five Rockets had multi-hit efforts in the first contest with Chris Meyers, Danny O'Reilly, John Servello, Justin Diaz, and Marcus Strother all tallying two hits apiece. Meyers and Strother both had home runs in the first game and Diaz drove in a pair of runs to help the cause. Kyle Jones, Jason Young, Bryce Davis, Jack Olberding, and Kyle Pijaszek all saw time on the mound for Toledo in the first game.

Game two was a back-and-forth affair that the Rockets were able to win to claim their first victory of the weekend. Trailing by one heading into the bottom of the sixth, Nicky Winterstein drove in the tying run and Trace Hatfield's RBI single up the middle brought in the game-winning run for the Midnight Blue and Gold. Meyers homered for the second straight game while O'Reilly and Mason Sykes both added dingers in the winning effort. All nine starters in the lineup had a hit for Toledo in game two. Layne Schnitz-Paxton started on the mound and struck out nine in 5.2 innings, while Cal McAninch pitched the final 1.1 innings and earned his first win of the year.

The series finale between the Rockets and Bobcats will be on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Scott Park. The game will be televised locally on BCSN and can also be streamed on ESPN3.

How it Happened (Game 1)

• The Bobcats took an early 5-0 in the top of the first. After the leadoff man struck out, the two-hole hitter singled up the middle and the next four hitters slugged back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs to emphatically put OU ahead.
• Ohio extended its lead to 6-0 with a base hit up the middle that easily scored the runner from third.
• Strother led off the bottom of the third with a home run to left field to get Toledo on the board and make the score 6-1.
• Diaz drove in Servello with a two-out double down the line in left field to make it 6-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
• Ohio added two in the top of the fifth, scoring on a sac fly and a wild pitch.
• Meyers launched a two-run blast to right field in the bottom of the fifth, making the score 8-4 on his eighth home run of the year.
• OU's Sebastian Fabik hit his second home run of the game in the top of the sixth to extend his team's lead to 9-4.
• A bases-loaded single in the top of the seventh for Ohio extended its lead to 11-4 over the Rockets.
• Toledo added a pair in the bottom of the seventh on RBI singles from Servello and Diaz, but could notbovercome the early barrage of Bobcat runs in game one's 11-6 loss.

How it Happened (Game 2)

• Hatfield's deep fly ball to right field allowed Sykes to score easily from third base to give Toledo a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
• Ohio's Trevor Hafner led off the top of the second with a home run to left field to tie the game at 1-1, then a base hit up the middle from Joe Weisenseel brought in the go-ahead run to make it 2-1.
• Sykes led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run to knot the score at 2-2.
• A two-out, infield single in the top of the fourth allowed a run to score for the Bobcats to give them a 3-2 lead.
• A solo home run in the top of the fifth by Ohio's Spencer Harbert extended his team's lead to 4-2.
• Toledo tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of solo home runs from Meyers and O'Reilly.
• The Bobcats scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch to take a 5-4 lead. McAninch got Toledo out of the inning without throwing a pitch, picking off the runner at first base for the third out.
• The Rockets took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with two runs to make it 6-5. Winterstein placed a double just inside the first base line that rolled all the way into the corner in right field and scored Zach Schwartzenberger to tie the game. Hatfield's base hit up the middle scored Winterstein to give Toledo the lead for good and helped UT split the doubleheader.