MUNCIE, Ind. – The Toledo baseball team opened MAC Tournament play on Wednesday with a heartbreaking 11-10 loss to Central Michigan at First Merchants Ballpark Complex in Muncie, Ind.
 
The Rockets and Chippewas engaged in a back-and-forth affair in the tournament's opening game, and it took all nine innings to find a winner. With the game tied at 8-8 heading into the top of the ninth, freshman Garret Pike and junior Mason Sykes slugged back-to-back home runs to emphatically give Toledo a 10-8 lead. Central Michigan responded in the bottom of the ninth with three runs to win in walk-off fashion, scoring the game-winning run on a bases-loaded walk.
 
Toledo will face the loser of No. 1 Ball State vs. No. 4 Ohio in an elimination game on Thursday at a to-be-determined time. Thursday's schedule is fluid due to expected rain in the Muncie area.
 
"That was a tough loss, but I'm proud of the way we played today," head coach Rob Reinstetle said. "The offense was outstanding and both Connor Brandon and Cal McAninch threw well. I told the team after the game that if we go out and play the way we did today, we can beat anybody. We'll play an elimination game tomorrow, so we need to regroup and get ready to go out and play the way we know we're capable of."
 
Pike went 3-for-4 on Wednesday with three extra-base hits, leaving him a single shy of the cycle. Sophomore Scott Mackiewicz and senior Nicky Winterstein both hit home runs and tallied three RBIs apiece, and Sykes added a home run and two RBIs to help the cause. Sophomore Jeron Williams went 3-for-5 in the leadoff spot.
 
McAninch threw a career-best 4.2 innings while striking out three, and Brandon struck out four in 1.2 innings of work.
 
How it Happened

• The Rockets got on the board first on Wright's RBI single in the top of the second.
• Central Michigan tied it up with a solo home run in the bottom of the second to put the score at 1-1.
• A pair of big home runs gave Toledo a 6-1 lead in the top of the third. Mackiewicz launched a two-run homer straight out to center field, then later in the inning Winterstein crushed a three-run homer to right field that gave UT a commanding five-run lead.
• The Chippewas answered right back with a five-run bottom of the third to tie the game at 6-6. The first seven batters of the inning reached base on a walk or base hit. A one-out single through the right side brought in the tying run.
• Robby Morgan and Adam Proctor gave CMU its first lead of the day off back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fifth to put the score at 8-6.
• Mackiewicz put the Rockets within a run in the top of the sixth on an RBI single that eked into right field. His base hit allowed Fry to score easily and make it an 8-7 game.
• Sykes tied the game at 8-8 with a base hit in the top of the seventh. Pike led off the inning with a triple, then scored easily on Sykes' single into left field.
• Pike and Sykes hit back-to-back homers in the top of the ninth to stun the Chippewas and give Toledo a 10-8 lead.
• After a strikeout to begin the inning, Central Michigan used three singles and an HBP to load the bases and bring in a run to make it 10-9. Back-to-back bases-loaded walks brought in the tying and winning runs in the 11-10 loss for Toledo.