MACON, Ga. – The Toledo baseball team opened its 2024 season in exciting fashion on Friday night with a 5-4 (10 inn.) victory at Mercer.
"That was a really good ballgame to start the season," Head Coach
Rob Reinstetle said. "I'm so proud of the guys. It was a total team win with so many contributing. Mercer has a really good team, but we played good baseball today. We hit the ball really well and executed well for the most part.
Junior
Caden Konczak and junior
Kaleb Herbert led Toledo offensively with two hits and two RBIs apiece. Herbert scored the winning run in the 10
th inning following a Mercer error.
Senior
Noah Johnson received the Opening Day start for the Rockets and fanned eight batters in 5.2 innings. Sophomore
Jackson Bergman picked up the victory by fanning three batters in 1.2 innings of hitless relief. Senior
Camryn Szynski closed out the win by registering his sixth career save with a scoreless 10
th frame.
"Noah gave us a great start on the mound and the bullpen was equally as good," Reinstetle said. "We're always happy with a win, but we still have areas to improve upon. The test now is to come back and play well tomorrow."
The two teams will continue their three-game series on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. with the series finale set for Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Mercer took a 2-0 lead with single runs in the second and third innings.
- Brian Fry's RBI double and Kaleb Herbert's two-run single put the Rockets in front, 3-2, in the fifth.
- Toledo tacked on another run in the top of the sixth on Brayden White's sacrifice fly to center field.
- The Bears rallied to tie the score with a run in the bottom of the sixth and another in the seventh.
- Herbert led off the 10th inning with a single and eventually scored following a throwing error by the Bears' pitcher.