TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo baseball team pulled off an incredible comeback, rallying from a 7-0 deficit to defeat Western Michigan, 11-10, in the second game of doubleheader vs. Western Michigan, at Scott Park on Saturday. The victory earned the Rockets a split in the twinbill, as they lost the first game, 15-6.

After a strong offensive showing in a 16-13 win on Friday, the Broncos' offense once again stole the show in game one, scoring 15 runs and collecting 17 hits in seven innings. Game two looked to be following a similar script, as WMU took a 7-0 lead early, but Toledo was able to come all the way back and win. The Rockets scored four runs in the third and six runs in the fourth to take the lead and then stave off a late WMU rally.

As pinch-hitters in the bottom of the seventh in game one, Matt Kirk and Wyatt O'Brien both drove in two runs for the Rockets, with O'Brien's coming on his first career home run. Chris Meyers and Trace Hatfield both had two hits in the first game, and Scott Mackiewicz had a home run.

Mackiewicz went deep in the second game as well, one of three Rockets to hit a home run in the victory. John Servello and Justin Diaz also had homers, with Diaz's being the first of his career at Toledo. Servello and Mackiewicz both led the team with three RBIs, while Marcus Strother had a two-hit game and drove in two runs as well. Layne Schnitz-Paxton earned the win to improve to 5-0 on the season, striking out seven in five innings of work.

Toledo and Western Michigan will conclude their weekend series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Scott Park. The game will be available on ESPN+.

How it Happened (Game 1)

• WMU took the lead with a two-out RBI double from Sean O'Keefe in the top of the third to put Toledo in a 1-0 hole.
• Trace Hatfield lined a base hit up the middle to drive in Servello and tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third.
• Blake Dunn launched a fly ball into the wind that carried over the fence in left-center field for a three-run home run and put the Broncos ahead 4-1 in the top of the fourth.
• Mackiewicz launched a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to make it 4-2.
• Western Michigan's Jimmy Allen and Ethan Hadjukovic both had solo home runs in the top of the fifth to extend the WMU lead to 6-2.
• Hadjukovic struck again with a three-run homer to right field in the top of the sixth, putting Toledo behind 9-2.
• The Broncos continued to pile it on late in the game, extending their lead to 15-2 with six runs in the top of the seventh.
• The Rockets scored four in the bottom of the seventh, two on a double from Kirk and two on a home run from O'Brien, but it was too little too late and they would end up falling 15-6.

 
How it Happened (Game 2)

• Western Michigan once again took an early lead, scoring a run in the top of the first to go up 1-0.
• The Broncos blew the game open with a six-run top of the second, batting around to take a 7-0 lead. Dunn's three-run home run highlighted the inning for WMU.
• Mackiewicz blasted his second home run of the day, a solo shot in the bottom of the second, to get the Rockets on the board.
• Strother and Winterstein led off the bottom of the third with back-to-back singles, then Servello brought everyone home with a three-run home run to make it 7-4.
• Toledo exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 10-7 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Strother drove in two on a base hit through the left side of the infield, then Meyers was plunked to bring in the tying run. Strother scored on a wild pitch to give Toledo the lead, then Mackiewicz hit a two-run bloop single into center field to cap a productive bottom of the fourth.
• Diaz crushed his first home run of the season onto the roof of the Findlay building beyond the left field fence, putting Toledo ahead 11-7.
• The Broncos hit two home runs in the top of the sixth to make it a one-run game, 11-10, but the Rockets were able to hold on a take game two of Saturday's doubleheader.