YPSILANTI, Mich. – For the second day in a row, Toledo's bats led the charge in a road victory at Eastern Michigan. The Rockets prevailed over the Eagles on Saturday, 10-9, in Mid-American Conference baseball action.
A pair of program records were tied in Saturday's game. Senior Mason Sykes slugged the 35th home run of his career, putting him in a tie with Toledo's all-time career home run leader Dan Sherwood (2008-11). Sykes' homer was one of three that UT hit on Saturday, giving the team 65 home runs on the season. That ties the program's single-season team home run record set back in 2002.
The Rockets (18-20, 8-9 MAC) reached double digits in runs for the third straight game, but saw more offensive resistance from the Eagles (16-21, 6-14 MAC). Despite EMU pounding out 14 hits on Saturday, Toledo responded each time with a strong offensive inning of its own to pull ahead and win the game and the series.
"That was an awesome win!" head coach Rob Reinstetle said. "I'm not sure we win that game two weeks ago, but the guys have a different edge and energy to them now. The offense scored in six of the nine innings and kept answering back whenever Eastern Michigan scored. We did what we needed to do on the mound, Jack Walker gave us a solid start. Brennan McCune and especially Nathan Leininger were fantastic the last three innings. We need to keep the foot on the gas and try for the sweep tomorrow. It won't be easy, but I'm proud of the fight in this group."
Sykes turned in the biggest performance at the plate, going 4-for-5 with his record-tying home run and three RBIs. Sophomore Owen Jackson and junior Trey Wright also homered in the game, with Jackson upping his season total to 13 homers. Sophomore Brian Fry reached base three times, going 2-for-4 with a walk.
McCune and Leininger were terrific out of the bullpen. McCune pitched a perfect seventh inning and Leininger struck out two across the final two innings to earn his first save of the season.
Toledo will go for the series sweep on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
How it Happened
- Mason Sykes gave Toledo an early 1-0 lead on an RBI double in the top of the first.
- The Rockets upped their lead to 3-0 in the top of the second. Troy Sudbrook scored on a fielder's choice and Brian Fry scored on an Eastern Michigan error.
- UT added another run in the top of the third to make it 4-0, but EMU quickly responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to put the score at 4-2.
- Sykes' record-tying home run came on a 1-2 count in the top of the fifth to make it 5-2.
- Darren Kraft provided the biggest swing of the day for the Eagles, hitting a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the fifth to make it 6-5 and give Eastern Michigan its first lead of the weekend.
- Toledo scored four in the top of the sixth to retake the lead at 9-6. Sykes came through yet again, this time with an RBI single, then two pitches later came in to score on Owen Jackson's three-run homer.
- A two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth put Eastern Michigan within a run, 9-8.
- Trey Wright hit Toledo's 65th home run of the season in the top of the seventh to make the score 10-8 and tie the program's single-season team home run mark.
- The Eagles made it a one-run game in the bottom of the eighth and put the tying run in scoring position in the ninth, but Nathan Leininger maneuvered his way out of trouble to clinch the win.
