TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo baseball team will visit Kent State for a three-game Mid-American Conference series this weekend.

Friday's series opener is set to begin at 4:00 p.m., Saturday's game will start at 3:00 p.m., and first pitch for Sunday's game is slated for 1:00 p.m.

The Rockets (12-11, 5-4 MAC) have won three straight games and two of their three MAC series so far this season. The Golden Flashes (16-8, 4-2 MAC) have lost four of their last five but all five games have come against tough opponents in Pittsburgh, Central Michigan, and Indiana.

Last Time Out

Toledo hosted Youngstown State in non-conference action on Tuesday and defeated the Penguins, 7-2.

The Rockets halted nearly every Youngstown State rally, stranding 13 YSU baserunners on the afternoon. UT also took advantage of three Penguin errors and saw solid pitching from six different hurlers to capture its third straight win.

Junior Jeron Williams continued his torrid pace at the plate, going 2-for-3 with an RBI double and two stolen bases. Sophomore Garret Pike hit his ninth home run of the season and has now homered in three straight games. Pike tallied a game-high three RBIs.

Redshirt freshman Dane Hall's fourth start of the season turned out to be his best. He twirled four shutout innings and struck out three and only got stronger as his start wore on, retiring six of the last seven batters he faced. Freshman RJ Shunck, junior Gavin Starcher, sophomore Patrick Dillon, junior Kyle Pijaszek, and junior Kyle Music all pitched one inning apiece in relief. Shunck, Dillon, and Music held the Penguins scoreless in their appearances.

Rocket Notes

• Jeron Williams has hit safely in 31 straight games, the longest hitting streak by a Rocket since Chris Dudics' record-setting 39-game hitting streak in 2010. Williams has also reached base safely in 33 straight games.
• Williams is among the national leaders in stolen bases (19) and hits (44), ranking fifth and seventh, respectively. Williams has three games this season with at least three stolen bases.
• Williams has been even better against MAC competition, hitting .476, slugging .738, and posting a .532 on-base percentage in nine conference games.
• Toledo is the top home run hitting team in the MAC and one of the best in the country, ranking atop the league and 24^th in the nation with 41 home runs. UT hit a season-high six home runs at Middle Tennessee (March 5).
• Owen Jackson is tied for the MAC lead with 10 home runs through 23 games, a pace that would shatter the single-season mark of 16 home runs set last year by Mason Sykes.
• Speaking of Sykes, he owns 30 career home runs entering play this weekend, five behind Toledo's career home run leader Dan Sherwood (2008-11), who hit 35 homers in his time at UT.
• Garret Pike has homered in three straight games and has 10 RBIs during that timeframe.
• Noah Johnson (3.03) and Cal McAninch (3.04) rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in ERA in the MAC this season, the only teammates to rank inside the top five together.

About Kent State
Kent State enters play this weekend with a 16-8 overall record and a 4-2 ledger in conference play. The Golden Flashes opened conference play by sweeping Northern Illinois at home before losing two out of three at Central Michigan last weekend. Those two MAC weekends bookended a non-conference weekend series with Canisius. Kent State is hitting .306 as a team, tops in the MAC, and also ranks atop the league in runs scored (215) and on-base percentage (.417). Kolton Schaller (.417), Aidan Longwell (.404), and Justin Miknis (.380) all rank among the top seven hitters in the league in batting average. Ben Cruikshank ranks in the top five in the MAC in ERA (3.00), strikeouts (41), and batting average against (.148).

Next Up
Toledo has a pair of midweek contests on the docket for next week. The Rockets will visit Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday and host Dayton on Wednesday.