TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo baseball team opened its weekend with a 5-1 victory over Eastern Michigan on Friday at Scott Park.
 
Junior Kyle Jones was predictably excellent, striking out eight in seven innings of work while allowing just one run. Eastern Michigan scored first, plating its lone run in the top of the fifth, but the Rockets wasted no time in responding with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Toledo would add insurance runs in the sixth and seventh, and junior Cal McAninch tossed two scoreless frames to earn his fourth save.
 
"It feels good to get a win on a Friday," head coach Rob Reinstetle said. "It's been a while since we did that, but today was a great way to start off this series. Kyle Jones was really good on the mound and gave us seven quality innings, then Cal McAninch finished it out in his normal fashion. The offense really put some good innings together in the middle of the game. I'm proud of the way they swung the bats and produced as a group. We are in a good spot (in the MAC playoff race) but need to keep the pedal down and continue playing solid baseball. Excited to get back at it tomorrow."

The Rockets (19-17, 13-11 MAC) strengthened their grip on third place in the Mid-American Conference standings, while Eastern Michigan (15-21, 10-11 MAC) fell a half game behind Ohio (16-17, 10-10 MAC) for fourth place. The top four teams advance to the MAC Tournament, which will be hosted by the regular season champion. Central Michigan (23-10, 17-1 MAC) sits 2.5 games up on Ball State (21-14, 15-4 MAC) entering play this weekend.
 
Sophomore Jeron Williams had a great day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while sophomore Scott Mackiewicz reached base four times with a double and three walks. Freshman Garret Pike and redshirt freshman Trey Wright both had two hits apiece, and senior John Servello and junior Darryn Davis each drove in runs to help the cause.
 
The series continues on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at noon.
 
How it Happened

• Neither team scored until the top of the fifth inning when Eastern Michigan's Matt Kirk doubled down the line in right field to bring home a run and make it 1-0.
• The Rockets did not stay down for long, scoring twice in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-1 lead. Williams tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI triple, then came around to score on Servello's sacrifice fly two batters later.
• Williams continued to do damage at the plate, driving in two runs in the bottom of the sixth on a base hit into center field to put the Rockets ahead, 4-1.
• Davis tacked on the final run of the game with a sac fly in the bottom of the seventh that scored Pike and put the score at 5-1, which would hold as the final.