YPSILANTI, Mich. – An eighth-inning offensive explosion pushed the Toledo baseball team over Eastern Michigan, 7-2 in a Mid-American Conference series opener at Oestrike Stadium on Friday.
 
Tied 1-1 in the eighth, the Rockets (12-20, 6-10 MAC) tied a season high with six runs in the eighth inning, scoring five times before an out was recorded. The pitching staff kept the Rockets in the game by escaping several scoring opportunities by the Eagles (13-16, 8-8 MAC) in the middle innings.

Quoting Head Coach Rob Reinstetle
"That was a big win today to start the weekend. We got great pitching and played errorless baseball. The story of the day was we swung the bats well against one of the best arms in the league. We finally got some key hits with runners on base that have eluded us all year. We need to come back tomorrow and build off this momentum."
 
Top Rocket Hitters

• Kaleb Herbert – 1-for-3, 2 RBIs, 2 BB
• Troy Sudbrook – 2-for-5, 1 2B, 1 R
  • Eighth multi-hit game of the season
• Luke Walton – 2-for-5, 1 R
  • Seventh multi-hit game of the season
• Luke Leto – 1-for-3, 3 RBIs, 1 3B, 1 BB
  • Second triple of the season

Pitching Lines 

• Logan Jones – 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
  • Tied longest outing of season and career
• Jacob Tabor (W, 1-3) – 4.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 Ks

How It Happened

• The Rockets got on the board first on a Kaleb Inning two-out RBI single in the fifth inning.
• A leadoff double led to an Eastern Michigan run in the bottom of fifth to tie things 1-1.
• With second and third and nobody out in the sixth, Jacob Tabor got out of the inning with two groundout and a strikeout to keep things level.
• A bases-loaded walk by Cole Cahill and a Brayden White hit by pitch gave Toledo a 3-1 lead in eighth. Then, Luke Leto broke the game open with a bases-clearing triple and Kaleb Herbert drove home Leto two batters later for a 7-1 advantage.

Up Next 
Toledo continues the series against the Eagles on Saturday, April 12. First pitch will be at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN+.