Toledo drops three

Photo Courtesy of UT Athletics

Senior pitcher Marla Gooding serves the pitch in UT’s 2014-2015 season.

The Toledo Rockets women’s softball team dropped three of four games this past weekend at the Macado Invitational.

The Rockets faced some stiff competition, squaring off against Saint Joseph’s, Binghampton and tournament host James Madison University, which is the #10 team in the nation.

In the first matchup, Toledo went up against the Hawks of Saint Joseph’s.

In what wasn’t the best start for pitcher Marla Gooding, the Hawks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.

However, Toledo was able to respond. An RBI double by outfielder Jessica Lemieux scored fellow outfielder Ashley Rausch. All of sudden, the Rockets were only down two in the third inning.

Saint Joseph’s didn’t waste much time with a response of their own. The Hawks put four quick runs on the board in the bottom of the inning to take a commanding 7-1 lead.

By the next inning, Toledo already had to go into their bullpen, and Saint Joseph’s was poised to pull away.

The Rockets were able to put on another run in the bottom of the seventh, but for the most part went out quietly, dropping the first match by a score of 8-2.

The Rockets woke up the next day looking to avenge the loss to the Hawks, but the rematch proved not to be much better.

The Hawks jumped out to another commanding lead and eventually finished Toledo off by a score of 11-0.

Still, there were two more games for the Rockets to redeem themselves. The competition, however, was only going to get harder before it could get easier.

Next up on the slate was host James Madison, ranked 10th and 12th in the country in two separate polls.

Most of the scoring, similar to Toledo’s first two games, came early on.

The Rockets actually managed to jump out to a 2-0 lead, thanks to small ball on the part of Samantha Showalter.

Showalter’s bunt scored both Lemieux and outfielder Sammy Emery, who reached on a hit-by-pitch and bunt, respectively.

Following the trend of the weekend, however, Toledo just couldn’t manage that shutdown inning. The Rockets gave up seven runs in the bottom of the first.

Predictably, Toledo ended up in a hole they couldn’t dig themselves out of, especially against such a formidable opponent.

They continued to fight the rest of the game, but lost by a score of 12-3.

The third consecutive loss of the weekend dropped the Rockets’ record to 1-10 on the season.

With one game left in the invitational, Toledo still had a chance to leave on a good note. Their final opponent would be the Binghampton Bearcats.

Marla Gooding once again took the mound for UT, hoping for a better outing than the last. This time around went better, and she also received some run support.

Per the usual, scoring came early and often. This time however, it was the Rockets playing comeback, as the Bearcats scored three runs in the first two innings.

Toledo would respond with Lemieux’s continuing her solid weekend with a rally-starting triple.

Base hits by Kaitlyn Bergman and Chandler Rice would pull the Rockets closer and a bases-loaded walk by Ashley Maynard tied the score at three apiece.

The two teams traded runs for a couple of innings, with Toledo finally ending the even exchange with a solo home run from Lemieux and a two-run homer from Showalter in the sixth inning, giving the Rockets a 9-6 lead and a three-run margin they would not lose.

The win moved the Rockets’ record to 2-10 on the season.

Toledo now heads to the west coast to play in the SLO Cal Poly Mustang Classic, and the Cal State Northridge Tournament in California. They’ll also play a double-header against UC Riverside.

The Rockets will return home in April where they will try to defeat their first Mid-American Conference foe of the season, the Miami (OH) Redhawks.