Toledo rebounds on road against Winthrop

The Rockets baseball team rebounded this past weekend in South Carolina, winning two of three games in a series against Winthrop.

Toledo took the first game on Friday 3-0, before dropping the second game of the series 11-3 the next day. UT was able to win the rubber match 4-3 in the second game of Saturday’s double header.

It was the Rockets’ first victories of the season. UT was swept in their opening weekend series, falling to Wright State and Belmont in Nashville, Tenn.

“We weren’t fully prepared the first weekend,” said freshman pitcher Alex Wagner. “I don’t think we were ready for the pace of the game, but the second weekend we were.

“We have a couple guys in the lineup and the rotation who went down with injury, but we have other guys stepping up so far.”

UT receivied major contributions from a pair of freshmen during their rebound weekend. Freshman catcher AJ Montoya led the way for the Rockets, batting 7-for-13 on the weekend with three runs scored and a RBI.

Freshman SS Matt Hansen also had a productive weekend at the plate. He batted 5-of-11 with a run and a RBI.

“We want contributions from every class,” said head coach Cory Mee. “Montoya and Hansen were outstanding this weekend. They jump-started our offense from the one and two spots in the order.”

In the Rockets’ two victories, their pitching staff kept them in contention. UT held the Eagles to three runs in the first game and none in the third.

Senior RHP Cameron Palmer threw 5.2 solid innings, picking up the victory in the series opener. The senior sat down seven Eagles and gave up two hits.

In the rubber match, junior RHP Caleb Schillace pitched 6 innings, giving up 2 hits and striking out four batters. Senior RHP Alec Schmenk entered the game in the 9th, picking up the win in relief work.

“We got two good starting performances from Schillace and Palmer,” Mee said. “We had a much-improved performance from the bullpen and timely hits offensively.

“We also played better defensively and played with much more hustle and enthusiasm.”

The Rockets managed more hustle and enthusiasm despite several injuries to key players. Despite that, Mee is hoping his team can play at full strength sooner rather than later.

“We’re hoping to have a couple guys return to health,” he said. “Guys like [senior] Deion Tansel and [senior] Dan Zuchowski that have been everyday players for us. So we still have decisions to make with how we put together our lineup. The goal is just to get better every week. Every team has to deal with injuries and every team has to deal with adversity. The teams that do that the best tend to be the most successful.”

The Rockets had to travel to Tennessee their opening weekend and then to South Carolina for this past series. Despite the long travels and tough schedule, Mee says the travel is no problem.

“We’re used to being on the road,” he said. “I think our first 20 games are on the road. We like to challenge ourselves by playing the best competition we can. We play against a high level of competition day in and day out so we can play at a high level day in and day out. Consistency is something we’re hoping to develop.”

It’s still early in the season, but with a pair of wins under their belts, Toledo has shown the first signs of the consistency that Mee desires.

“We’re still learning our team and our strengths,” Mee said. “I liked the way we played [against Winthrop]. If we continue that, we’ll like the results we see.

“We really responded well from our opening weekend. We won a series on the road against a good Winthrop team. I think we improved in all facets of the game.”

The Rockets will be traveling to Blacksburg, Va. on Friday, Feb. 27, to take on the Virginia Tech Hookies in a three game weekend series. The first game is at 3 p.m.