Toledo baseball opens spring season at First Pitch Invitational

The University of Toledo baseball team kicked off their spring season with a 1-2 record at the First Pitch Invitational in Greenville, S.C.

The Rockets fell to Xavier 6-4 on Saturday, and on Sunday defeated Norfolk State 11-3 before losing to Furman 13-5.

“We really hit the ball well down there,” said Toledo head coach Core Mee. “That was nice to see. We also had some good pitching. As a whole we threw the ball pretty well.”

In Toledo’s opening game against Xavier, senior left-handed pitcher Ryan Wilkinson gave up only four hits, two walks, and one earned run over six full frames before being pulled, a performance his coach called a “solid showing.”

“We figured [he] would throw well,” Mee said.

The two teams entered the seventh tied at one, but Xavier put four runs in at the top of the frame to give themselves a lead they would never relinquish.

“When you give teams more outs in an inning, it makes things harder,” Mee explained. “We will need to play a little better on that end, but it is still early [in the season].”

The Rockets pounded out 13 hits during their Sunday morning victory over Norfolk State. Five Toledo batters led the attack with two hits each.

Senior right-handed pitcher Cameron Palmer allowed only one fun on four hits, while posting four strikeouts during over five innings on the mound.

“When you hit the ball like that, plus good pitching and solid defensive [efforts], you would like to see results like that,” Mee said. “That was a good team win that you can be happy with.”

Toledo closed out their weekend against Furman, where the Rockets fell to the host team after committing four errors and giving up eight walks.

UT jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, but they watched their cushion disappear after Furman tied things up in the bottom of the third. The Paladins went on to score 12 runs over the next four innings.

“When you make errors, you extend the inning,” Mee said. “When you extend the inning, you make it harder to win ball games.”

Toledo continues their spring season next weekend in the Louisiana State University Tournament in Baton Rouge, La. The Rockets will face Texas Southern on Friday at 1 p.m., the host Tigers on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Virginia Tech on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Alex Box Stadium.

“It is a great way to play some really good teams,” Mee said. “LSU has one of the best atmospheres in the country for college baseball. This will be a fun experience for the boys, and a chance to get some good wins.”