Toledo Hosts Central Michigan This Weekend

Friday, May 12

Toledo, Ohio

1:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

Central Michigan

Toledo hosts Central Michigan this weekend in a crucial Mid-American Conference series.

Photo by: Kevin Finnigan

5/11/2023 3:28:00 PM | Baseball

Start time for Friday's game moved up to 1:00 p.m.

TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo baseball team ends the regular season with seven straight home games, a stretch that starts this weekend with a series vs. Central Michigan.

All three games this weekend will begin at 1:00 p.m. Friday's game was originally scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m., but was moved up to avoid potential rain later in the afternoon. The games on Friday and Sunday will be streamed live on ESPN+ and Saturday's game will be streamed live on ESPN3. The finale on Sunday will also be televised locally on BCSN.

The Rockets' (23-25, 11-13 MAC) MAC Tournament hopes are still alive with two weeks to go in the regular season. They are three games out of fourth place, trailing Ohio (18-25, 14-10 MAC) and Western Michigan (16-28, 13-10 MAC) in the league standings.

Battle of I-75 at Fifth Third Field: Part III
For the third straight year, the Toledo and Bowling Green baseball programs will face off at Fifth Third Field in downtown Toledo. The Rockets and Falcons will play at the home of the Toledo Mud Hens on Friday, May 19 at 7:00 p.m.

Tickets are still available for purchase through the Toledo Mud Hens Ticket Office. Visit utrockets.com/FifthThirdField to purchase tickets.

Toledo and BGSU have each won one meeting at Fifth Third Field. The Rockets won the first game, 5-2, in 2021 before the Falcons won, 5-4, in 2022.

This year's Battle of I-75 matchup will be the second game in a three-game Mid-American Conference series between the two rivals. Toledo and Bowling Green will open their series at Scott Park on Thursday, May 18 and conclude on Saturday, May 20.

Jeron Williams Named Top 50 Shortstop by D1Baseball
D1Baseball.com released its list of Top 50 shortstops in the country this week and Jeron Williams ranked No. 11 on their list.

Williams leads the nation with 46 stolen bases and ranks second with 85 hits. In addition to leading the MAC in both categories, he is also tied for first in runs scored (60) and ranks second in the league in batting average (.407) and second in on-base percentage (.477). If he can keep his batting average above .400 through the end of the season, he'll be the first Rocket to hit .400 in a season since former Kansas City Royal Mitch Maier hit a school-record .448 in 2003.

Rewriting the Record Book
The 2023 season has seen several school records broken, with more potentially falling over the next week:

Owen Jackson hit his 16^th home run of the season last weekend at Northern Illinois, which ties the school record for most home runs in a single season with teammate Mason Sykes, who hit 16 last year.
On April 26 vs. Bowling Green, Sykes hit his 36^th career home run to become Toledo's all-time home run leader. He passed Dan Sherwood (35 home runs, 2008-11) with his fourth-inning blast vs. the Falcons. Sykes' 37 career home runs are the most among all current MAC players.
Jeron Williams broke Toledo's single-season stolen base record on April 25 at Dayton and is threatening to break the MAC's single-season record as well. He has 46 stolen bases on the year, most in the nation and putting him just four stolen bases away from tying the all-time MAC single-season stolen base record of 50 set by Central Michigan's Larry Lamphere in 1988.
Williams could approach a few other single-season school records as well. His 85 hits are 14 away from tying Chris Dudics' record of 99 set in 2013; 60 runs scored are 10 away from tying Andy Stetka's record of 70 set in 2001; and his 135 total bases are 17 away from tying Sean Dobson's record of 152 set in 2004.
The Rockets have also broken their single-season team records for home runs and stolen bases. UT's 86 home runs clobbered the previous record of 65 homers set in 2002, and its 94 stolen bases overtook the single-season record of 85 set last season.
One of the top fielding teams in the country, Toledo's .979 fielding percentage this year ranks 13^th in the nation and would be the highest in a single season in school history.

About Central Michigan
Central Michigan brings a 31-16 overall record and a 17-7 MAC record into this weekend's series. The Chippewas are tied with Ball State for second place in the MAC standings and two games behind Kent State for the top spot. CMU leads the MAC and ranks sixth in the nation with 112 stolen bases and is third in runs scored with 352. The pitching staff's 4.41 ERA is the second-lowest in the league.

Next Up
Toledo hosts Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday before wrapping up the regular season vs. archrival Bowling Green.