TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo baseball team continues its early-season road stretch with a trip to the Carolinas for the OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic.
The Rockets will face Presbyterian on Friday at 4:00 p.m. before playing at USC Upstate on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Their weekend concludes with a Sunday game at Gardner-Webb at 1:00 p.m.
Toledo is coming off a three-game season-opening series at East Tennessee State where it dropped two out of three games against the Bucs. The lone win came on Saturday thanks to a late comeback in the top of the ninth.
Trailing 4-2, freshman Troy Sudbrook drew a leadoff walk and junior Jeron Williams singled to put runners at first and second with no outs. Facing an 0-2 count, sophomore Garret Pike drove a three-run home run over the right-field fence to give Toledo a 5-4 lead. Two batters later, sophomore Owen Jackson singled to bring home senior Mason Sykes and push the lead to 6-4. Junior Camryn Szynski shut down the Bucs in the bottom of the ninth to close out a sparkling performance by the bullpen and secure the win.
Williams was the Rockets' leading hitter at ETSU, batting .385 out of the leadoff spot with a double and two runs scored.
Cal McAninch was outstanding out of the bullpen, throwing 4.1 scoreless innings across two outings and striking out three. Jack Walker was also effective out of the pen, striking out four in two scoreless frames.
Following the games this weekend, the Rockets will head to Tennessee for a three-game set at Middle Tennessee next weekend before two midweek contests at UT Martin on March 7-8.
About Presbyterian
Presbyterian is 2-2 entering play this weekend, dropping two out of three against Georgetown to open the season before shutting out Western Carolina in a midweek contest on Wednesday. The Blue Hose sport a 2.62 team ERA and are led by starting pitchers Duncan Howard (1.29 ERA) and Fenix DiGiacomo (1.59 ERA). At the plate, Presbyterian is averaging 3.5 runs per game in the early going and is led by Jack Gorman (.267 BA, .400 SLG%) and Jake Randolph (.273 BA).
About USC Upstate
USC Upstate enters the weekend 5-0 after series sweeps against Towson and North Florida to open the year. The Spartans will host Michigan State on Friday before welcoming Toledo to Harley Park. Henry Proger, the Big South's Pitcher of the Week, earned the win vs. Towson last weekend with six innings of one-run ball while striking out eight. Proger leads a pitching staff that boasts a 2.60 ERA and a .198 batting average against. Noah Sullivan leads Upstate at the plate with a .471 batting average, two home runs, and seven RBI and an .824 slugging percentage. Adam Grob has driven in a team-best 10 runs.
About Gardner-Webb
Gardner-Webb is 1-4 on the season, its lone win coming on Opening Day vs. Rider. GWU is hitting .193 as a team and is led by Jacob Marcos and Mark Black, who are both slashing .375/.375/.500 over the first five games. The Runnin' Bulldogs' pitching staff owns a 7.12 ERA, having allowed 34 runs to date. Bobby Alcock was the Opening Day starter, allowing one run over five innings while striking out six.
