TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo baseball team crushed Northern Illinois, 10-0 in a seven-inning, run-rule victory at Scott Park on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Rockets (30-21, 21-14 MAC) honored seven seniors prior to the game on Saturday: Matt Detering, Justin Diaz, Nicky Winterstein, Jordan Power, Darryn Davis, Zach Schwartzenberger, and John Servello. The good times kept rolling for the Midnight Blue & Gold once the game started; the Rockets scored five runs in the first two innings and collected 10 runs on 15 hits by the end of the game. Toledo's pitching held NIU scoreless and allowed just two hits on the day.
 
"After coming out a little flat yesterday, we bounced back and played really well today," head coach Rob Reinstetle said. "It was a nice win on Senior Day. Connor Brandon was dominant on the mound and Yianni Skeriotis got us out of a huge jam late in the game. We played another clean game defensively, but the offense was the big story today. They scored in almost every inning and just never took the foot of the gas. So many guys had good games and contributed. It's nice when you can say that after a game. Tomorrow is our last home game of the season and we need to finish strong. We honored seven seniors today, but tomorrow will be their last time playing at Scott Park. It would be awesome to get a win for them."
 
Saturday's win marked the 30^th of the season for the Rockets, their 10^th 30-win season in program history and the first since 2012.
 
Toledo received offensive contributions up and down the lineup on Saturday. Servello celebrated his Senior Day with a 2-for-3 performance that included a home run and a double to go with three RBIs. Winterstein had a good day at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 and scoring twice. Detering contributed a pinch-hit RBI double in the seventh inning that set up the game-winning hit. Davis joined Servello in homering on Senior Day, launching a solo shot in the fifth inning.
 
The youngsters contributed on Saturday as well. Freshman Brian Fry went 3-for-4 with three doubles and a couple of RBIs, including the game-winning double in the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore Scott Mackiewicz went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs, and freshman Garret Pike had a two-hit day as well.
 
Brandon was masterful on the mound, throwing six scoreless frames while striking out eight. Skeriotis entered the game in the top of the seventh in a precarious situation, bases loaded and no outs, and worked the Rockets out of trouble to escape the inning unscathed.
 
First pitch for Sunday's series finale has been moved up an hour to noon to avoid potential rain in the area later in the day.
 
How it Happened

• Servello started off the scoring with a solo home run in the bottom of the first to make it 1-0. Junior Mason Sykes followed that up two at-bats later with an RBI double to put UT ahead, 2-0.
• Fry's first double of the day drove in Winterstein in the bottom of the second and put Toledo ahead by three.
• Mackiewicz and Servello followed that up with an RBI triple and RBI double, respectively, to extend Toledo's lead to 5-0.
• NIU had opportunities to score in the second and third, putting two runners on base in each inning, but Brandon slammed the door both times with a strikeout to preserve the shutout.
• Servello's sac fly in the fourth inning pushed the lead to 6-0, and the next inning Davis launched a 2-0 pitch over the fence in left field to put the Rockets ahead by seven runs.
• Toledo's lead was extended to 8-0 in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Mackiewicz. Fry reached on a double, advanced to third on a deep fly ball, then scored easily on Mackiewicz's base hit that eked through the right side of the infield.
• With the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the seventh, Reinstetle called upon Skeriotis to clean up the mess. He did so expertly, inducing a harmless fly ball to right field before forcing an inning-ending double play to work his way out of trouble.
• Winterstein reached in the bottom of the seventh on an infield single, then scored from first on Detering's RBI double. Fry fittingly ended the game with another double, this one to right field, that scored Detering and invoked the run rule.