TOLEDO, Ohio – Junior
Trey Wright hit a pair of homers and drove in a career-high eight runs to lead the Toledo baseball team to a 19-6 non-conference victory over Youngstown State at a blustery Scott Park on Tuesday afternoon.
Wright opened the scoring for the Rockets with an opposite-field grand slam in the first inning, and junior
Garret Pike highlighted an eight-run fourth inning with a three-run homer to left-center. Wright slugged his second four-bagger of the day an inning later with a three-run blast over the left-center field fence.
Pike paced Toledo's 13-hit attack with three hits, with sophomore
Tre Mariano and freshman
Cole Cahill joining Wright with two-hit outings.
"I am really happy with the way we played today," Head Coach
Rob Reinstetle said. "With the wind blowing the way it was, games like this can sometimes get a little crazy. The offense had a nice day and swung the bats really well."
Senior
Kyle Pijaszek (3-1) was credited with the victory after opening the contest with a spotless first inning. The Rockets' eight pitchers who appeared in the game struck out 14 Penguins.
"For me, the highlight of the game was our pitching and how all of our guys that threw today performed," Reinstetle said. "They kept the ball down and did a good job of limiting the Youngstown State offense. Now we turn our attention to a big weekend coming up against Northern Illinois, which will be a good test for us."
The Rockets (11-13, 6-3 MAC) will face the Huskies (9-16, 5-4 MAC) in a three-game series at Scott Park on Thursday-Saturday, March 28-30.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Trey Wright's grand slam gave the Rockets a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
- The Penguins added single runs in the third and fourth innings to cut UT's lead in half.
- Toledo blew the game open by exploding for eight runs in the bottom of the fourth. Garret Pike opened the scoring in the inning with a three-run homer, and JP Wagner capped it off with a two-run double off the right-field fence.
- Wright's three-run blast as part of a six-run fifth helped Toledo increase its cushion to 18-3.
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