TOLEDO, Ohio – Sophomore Garret Pike's walk-off single into right field capped an exciting Saturday at Scott Park and helped Toledo defeat Central Michigan, 4-3.

With the game tied at 3-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth, junior Scott Mackiewicz drew a leadoff walk and sophomore Caden Konczak reached on an infield single to put runners at first and second with one out. Pike worked a full count and eventually drove the eighth pitch of the at-bat into right field for a single. Mackiewicz raced around third and slid into home ahead of the throw to score the game-winning run in the Rockets' (24-26, 12-14 MAC) victory.

"What a way to respond after a very disappointing game yesterday," head coach Rob Reinstetle said. "We challenged the guys to show up today and prove they had some fight left in them. I've said it all year that it all begins on the mound and Camryn Szynski was outstanding today. It could be our best start of the season. Both Kyle Pijaszek and Cal McAninch were good out of the bullpen. I thought the offense did a great job against their starter and got some good swings off on him. Their first reliever stymied us a bit, but in the end when it mattered most we found a way to score and get the win. Tomorrow is another day and I know full well that CMU will come back angry and hungry themselves. We'll need more good pitching and some timely hitting, but I like the way the boys responded today."

With his walk-off hit, Pike has now reached base safely in a career-best 20 straight games. Konczak went 2-for-4 at the plate with a solo home run, his 10^th homer of the season, and Mackiewicz went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a stolen base.

Junior Jeron Williams drove in two runs and went 2-for-4 at the dish with a stolen base, his 47^th of the season. Williams, the nation's leading base stealer, is now three stolen bases away from tying Larry Lamphere's (Central Michigan) Mid-American Conference record of 50 stolen bases that was set in 1988.

Junior Camryn Szynski made the start and struck out a season-high seven across six innings of work. Junior Kyle Pijaszek tossed 1.1 scoreless frames and senior Cal McAninch earned the win with 1.2 shutout innings in relief.

Toledo and Central Michigan will wrap up their weekend series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

• Caden Konczak opened the scoring with a solo homer to right field in the bottom of the first to give UT an early 1-0 lead.
• Central Michigan scored three runs in the top of the third to grab the lead. One run scored on a bases-loaded HBP and two scored on sacrifice flies.
• Jeron Williams put the Rockets within a run in the bottom half of the second on a sac fly. Troy Sudbrook advanced to third on Scott Mackiewicz's double, and the freshman scored two pitches later on Williams' fly ball to right field.
• Camryn Szynski faced adversity in the third and sixth innings, but escaped both unscathed to keep the score at 3-2.
• Williams used his speed to hustle out an infield single in the bottom of the sixth that allowed Mackiewicz to score and tie the game at 3-3.
• Cal McAninch entered the game in the top of the eighth and stranded a pair of CMU runners on second and third, then picked a runner off first base in the top of the ninth to help keep the game tied at 3-3.
• Mackiewicz walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth and Konczak's infield single gave the Rockets runners at first and second with one out. Garret Pike's line drive to right field fell safely and allowed Mackiewicz to score from second and end the game.