TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo baseball team will open its home season at Scott Park this weekend with a three-game Mid-American Conference series vs. Ball State. First pitch for Friday's game vs. the Cardinals is set for 3:00 p.m., while Saturday's and Sunday's contests will begin at 1:00 p.m. Each of the contests will be streamed on ESPN+.

The Rockets (8-12, 4-2 MAC) are currently tied for second place in the MAC standings after playing their first two league series on the road. Toledo swept Akron in its opening MAC weekend on March 8-10 before dropping two of three to Western Michigan in Kalamazoo last weekend.

Senior Owen Jackson led Toledo against the Broncos last weekend with a .571 hitting mark (8-of-14) and was one of three Rockets to belt a pair of home runs. Sophomore Wes Parker also hit two HRs to go along with a .500 average. Junior Garret Pike provided two homers as well with a team-high nine RBIs, including a career-high eight in Toledo's 21-14 Game One win on Saturday.

Redshirt freshman Luke Walton is leading UT with a .339 batting average, with Pike (.338) and Jackson (.313) also hitting over .300. Pike is the Rockets' leader with 15 RBIs, 17 runs scored and 42 total bases.

Toledo has opened its 2024 campaign with 20 straight games on the road. The Rockets will play their next nine games at home before returning to the road for a three-game series at Central Michigan on April 5-7,

MAC CO-PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Jackson Bergman was named the MAC's Co-Pitcher of the Week pn Monday following his stellar pitching out of the bullpen last week. He posted a 1.69 ERA and struck out 11 batters with a .059 opponent batting average in 5.1 innings over two relief appearances. 

Bergman struck out seven batters and didn't allow a hit in 3.1 scoreless innings pitched at Western Michigan on Saturday to help the Rockets overcome an early 7-0 deficit in a 21-14 victory.

TOLEDO'S MAC HITTING LEADERS

• Luke Walton is tied for third in the MAC with seven doubles, fifth with a .679 slugging percentage and 1.144 OPS, and seventh with a .465 on-base percentage.
• Owen Jackson is tied for fifth with six home runs.
• Garret Pike is tied for eighth with 27 hits.
• Scott Mackiewicz is tied for seventh with five homers. Mackiewicz is also tied for eighth with a team-high 14 walks. 

TOLEDO'S MAC PITCHING LEADERS

• Jacob Tabor is tied for first in the MAC with three saves.
• Camryn Szynski is tied for third with two saves.
• Grant Umberger ranks third with a .212 opponent batting average and fifth with a 4.43 ERA.
• Noah Johnson is tied for eighth with a team-high 26 strikeouts in a team-high 24.1 innings, including a season-high nine punchouts in seven innings vs. Akron (March 8).

ABOUT BALL STATE
Ball State (12-10, 1-5 MAC) is the defending MAC Tournament champion and opened conference play with six straight home games. The Cardinals dropped two of three to Eastern Michigan (March 8-10) and was swept by Bowling Green last weekend. BSU leads the MAC with 30 home runs, with senior Michael Hallquist (.366 batting average) setting the pace with eight homers.