TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo baseball team will play three games at Ohio April 26-28, looking to stay on pace to reach the MAC Tournament. UT will play at Bob Wren Stadium on Friday at 6:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday at 1:00 p.m., with all three games set to air on ESPN+.
 
The Rockets (19-22, 12-9 MAC) fell to Miami three times last weekend, but have won five of their seven conference series thus far. UT suffered a 4-3, 13-inning non-conference defeat at Purdue Fort Wayne Wednesday.
 
The Bobcats (12-24, 7-14 MAC) lost 2-of-3 at Bowling Green last weekend, but rallied in the ninth inning on Sunday to end BGSU's 17-game conference winning streak. Ohio won 4-2 against Morehead State at home on Tuesday.
 
Toledo is tied for third in the MAC standings with Ball State, while Ohio sits at 7-14 and 4.0 games behind Miami for the final MAC playoff spot.
 
LAST WEEKEND
Miami took Friday's series opener at Scott Park in a 13-0 decision. On Saturday, Toledo got 5.0 innings of one-run, two-hit relief from Camryn Szynski and a game-tying home run from Luke Walton in the eighth inning. However, a two-out infield single scored the winning run in the 10th for Miami in the 4-3 victory. Toledo dropped the series finale, 10-2 on Sunday. The Rockets missed opportunities to climb back into the game, leaving 14 runners on base.
 
TOLEDO'S MAC HITTING LEADERS

• Toledo leads the MAC in home runs (67) and is third in the league in total bases (670).
• Garret Pike (14, T-3rd), Owen Jackson (11, 7th) and Luke Walton (10, 8th) are all top 10 in the league in home runs, as UT is the only team in the league with three of the top 10 in homers.
• Walton is fifth in the league in slugging percentage at .669 along with seventh in OPS at 1.100. Pike ranks 10th in slugging at .641.
• Pike is fourth in the league in total bases (107), tied for fourth in hits (57) and tied for seventh in runs scored (39) and RBIs (42)
• Walton's 12 doubles are fourth in the league and his 89 total bases are tied for eighth.
• Jackson is tied for fifth in the league in walks (28) while Mackiewicz is tied for eighth (27). Jackson drew three walks on Wednesday.

TOLEDO'S MAC PITCHING LEADERS

• Opposing batters are hitting just .276 against the Rockets, lowest in the league.
• Opponents are hitting just .207 off Grant Umberger, the second-lowest individual opponent average in the league. Umberger holds a 3.71 ERA, fourth-best in the MAC.
• Umberger enters the weekend with a 5-3 record in 10 starts, one of just five pitchers in the league with at least five wins. He has allowed the third-fewest runs (23) and fourth-fewest hits (39) in the league.
• Noah Johnson is one of just three pitchers in the league to not throw a wild pitch this season.
• Both Johnson and Umberger have struck out 18 batters looking, tied for fifth-most in the MAC.

ROCKET NOTES

• Toledo holds a 6-3 road record in conference play, winning two of its three prior road series.
• The Rockets hold a 24-22 all-time record against the Bobcats. Ohio took all three games in Toledo last season, while UT won 2-of-3 in Athens in 2022.
• In its last three games, the bullpen has pitched 19.2 innings, allowing just nine hits, five earned runs and five walks, while striking out 21 batters. This included 5.1 innings of scoreless, one-hit pitching from Brennan McCune on Wednesday.
• Pike has at least one hit in 19 of Toledo's 21 conference games, including 10 multi-hit games in conference play.
• Trey Wright has reached base safely in 28 of Toledo's games this year.

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS

• Ohio is 7-11 at home this season, including 4-8 in conference games.
• Antle Gideon is batting .395, the second-highest average in the league. He holds the fourth-highest OPS in the league at 1.108.
• Gideon and freshman JR Nelson have combined for 106 hits this season, as both rank top 20 in the conference with 58 and 48, respectively.
• Blake Gaskey has pitched the most innings (48.1) on the roster and holds a .286 opposing batting average, lowest among OU's starters.
• Ohio has struck out 258 times as a team, the fewest in the MAC.

 
UP NEXT
Toledo has a midweek matchup at Bowling Green, which will not count towards the conference standings on Tuesday, April 30 at 4:00 p.m. UT will face Eastern Michigan at home May 3-5, closing out its 2024 MAC home slate.