TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo baseball team will receive its final tuneup prior to opening Mid-American Conference play when it travels down I-75 on Wednesday, March 6 to face the University of Dayton (5-5). First pitch at Woerner Field at AES Ohio Stadium is set for 3:00 p.m. 

The Rockets (4-7) will begin their MAC season this weekend with a three-game series at Akron (3-7). The Zips and Rockets will play a doubleheader on Friday at noon followed by a single game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. All three games are scheduled to be on ESPN+.

The Rockets (4-7) have opened their 2024 campaign with three straight series on the road and will play nine more contests away from home before hosting Wright State at Scott Park in its home opener on Wednesday, March 20.

Junior catcher Brayden White leads Toledo with a .367 batting average and eight RBIs with junior outfielder Caden Konczak also topping the .300 mark for the Rockets.

Freshman JP Wagner topped UT offensively last weekend at Southeast Missouri State with a .462 hitting mark (6-of-13). Also enjoying strong weekends were Konczak (.444, 4-of-9) and senior Scott Mackiewicz with a .429 average (6-of-14) and team-high two homers.

Starting Strength
Senior Noah Johnson (0-1, 4.02 ERA) has been the Rockets' most consistent starter and thrown at least four innings in every starting assignment. He has started the opener in all three series and fanned a season-high eight batters vs. Mercer (Feb. 16).

Senior Grant Umberger (1-2, 5.40 ERA) was effective in his first two starts, highlighted by allowing just one unearned run and three hits in six innings vs. Winthrop (Feb. 24).

Sophomore RJ Shunck (1-2, 7.00 ERA) has been solid in his last two starts with 14 strikeouts in 8.1 innings. He picked up his first career win in Sunday's win over Southeast Missouri.

Bullpen Banter
Freshman Jacob Tabor (1-0, 2.25 ERA) has led Toledo's bullpen with nine strikeouts in eight innings. Senior Camryn Szynski (0-1, 3.37 ERA) has collected a team-high two saves, while sophomore Jackson Bergman (1-0, 3.60 ERA) has fanned seven batters in 5.0 innings. Junior Brennan McCune (0-0, 3.60) also possesses an ERA under 4.00 in 5.0 innings pitched.
 
About Dayton
The Flyers were picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll and collected two wins in a three-game series at High Point last weekend. Carlos Castillo leads UD with a .500 batting average (11-for-22), with Ryan MacDougall and Alejandro Cazorla each slugging a team-high three home runs.

About Akron
Akron was predicted to finish 11th in the MAC by the league's head coaches but has posted a pair of victories over Power Five schools Illinois (5-4) and Duke (4-3). Max Bowman leads the Zips in batting average (.313) and hits (10). Dawson Tourney is the team leader in strikeouts (13), while Sean Perkins possesses a team-best 3.72 ERA in 9.2 IP.