ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Toledo baseball team again jumped to an early lead, and
Garret Pike hit his 17th home run of the season to break a program record in a 14-2 victory over Oakland on Tuesday at the Oakland Baseball Field.
The Rockets (24-25, 16-11 MAC) won their fourth straight game, while the Golden Grizzles (25-24, 13-11 Horizon) dropped their second straight.
Pike's homer was also the 38th of his Toledo career, tying
Mason Sykes' (2021-23) mark for the most all-time in a Toledo uniform.
""It's awesome to do this after all of the great players that have played here at Toledo," said Pike, "I had a slow start to the season, but really got rolling especially with home runs, so this achievement is a special honor."
"Really proud of
Garret Pike for cementing himself in the Toledo record books, said Head Coach
Rob Reinstetle. "The record has been reached or broken each of the last three years, and Garret was able to break it. He's now one away from being the all-time leader as well. I'm not surprised he's at the top of our records. He's been outstanding the last three seasons and keeps getting better."
The Rockets hit four home runs as a team, with Pike, senior
Owen Jackson and freshmen
Charlie Scholvin and
Luke Walton each hitting home runs on the day. Senior
Scott Mackiewicz went 3-for-5 and scored a game-high three runs, while redshirt freshman
Luke Walton went 3-for-5. Scholvin led the Rockets with three RBIs, while Pike and Mackiewicz each had two.
Seven different Toledo pitchers combined for a two-hitter and stranded 12 batters on the day, adding nine strikeouts to the team total. Senior
Yianni Skeriotis (2-1) started and delivered 3.0 scoreless innings on one hit and two strikeouts. Senior
Kyle Music went 1.1 innings, while juniors
Brennan McCune and
Caden Kline along with sophomore
Dane Hall pitched 1.0, all without allowing a hit or run.
"That was a dominant performance today by the guys," said Reinstetle. "I challenged the team to not get complacent over these next two weeks with the MAC tournament clinched, but to keep moving forward which we did today. The hitters came out swinging and continued to add to the lead, and the pitchers did really well to hold Oakland to two runs and two hits. We travel to play a really good Notre Dame team this weekend. Even with a break in MAC play, we need to keep our focus and play good baseball."
The Rockets will remain on the road and in non-conference action in a weekend series against Notre Dame May 10-12. First pitch for Friday's opener will be at 6:30 p.m. on ACCNX.
Tuesday's game included a 45-minute rain delay in the eighth inning.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Garret Pike hit a two-run home run and Luke Walton followed with a solo shot to put UT up 3-0 in the first. Later in the inning, Brandon Lucek drove home a run on a two-out single.
- Owen Jackson provided another solo home run in the top of the second for a 5-0 lead.
- Cole Cahill plated Scott Mackiewicz with an RBI single in the third inning.
- Oakland got on the board in the bottom of the fifth on a bases-loaded walk.
- Charlie Scholvin crushed a two-run home run to left with two outs to push the Rockets' lead to 8-1.
- The Grizzlies scored in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI triple to close the score to 8-2.
- After UT loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, Brayden White drove home a run and Mackiewicz plated two on consecutive singles to extend the lead to 11-2. Caden Konczak then drew a bases-load walk for a 12-2 lead, Scholvin was hit by a pitch to push across another run before a passed ball brought home Tre Mariano to close a six-run inning.
