UT drops series against Buffalo

The Rockets’ softball team dropped three games in a home series against the University at Buffalo after the series was moved from Buffalo to Toledo due to weather conditions.

Toledo was competitive throughout the weekend, losing the first two games 1-0 and 2-1 in a double header on Saturday before a 6-3 defeat to close out the series on Sunday.

Closing out games has been a struggle all season long for the 5-23 Rockets; they’ve lost eight games by two runs or less. This past weekend was no different as they lost three games by a combined five runs.

Senior starting pitcher Marla Gooding went the distance in game one, finishing her 10th complete game of the year. She only allowed one earned run and struck out a pair of batters while walking only one in the 1-0 loss.

Despite the solid outing, Toledo couldn’t manage much on offense. The Rockets finished with six hits, but none of them plated a run.

The Bulls struggled on offense as well, being shut out by Gooding for the first six innings.

Freshman Katie Weimer smacked a triple to left field with two-outs, scoring junior Ashton Earnhardt from first for the walk-off win.

UT came back looking for revenge in the second game, with freshman Heather Webb toeing the rubber.

Webb had a solid outing allowing just one earned run and striking out four. The freshman is still looking to pick up her first collegiate victory.

Toledo jumped out to a 1-0 lead after an RBI double from junior Jessica Lemieux in the top of the second inning.

Buffalo’s starter Brienna Baker proceeded to shut down the Rockets offense from there, allowing just four hits on the afternoon.

The game went silent until the bottom of the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, senior Kenzie Koch knocked a shot up the middle for a two-RBI single.

Baker finished off the Rockets in the top of the seventh to escape with a 2-1 victory.

In the final game of the series, UT sent Webb back to the mound for a shot at redemption.

But her luck ran short yet again. Webb tossed five innings, giving up six runs, five-earned, and striking out just two in the loss. Gooding came in for relief and gave up two hits.

After a Lauren Gambone single to put Buffalo up one in the second, the Rockets came back with a response for the first time in the series.

Toledo responded with two runs of their own in the top of the third to take a 2-1 lead. Megan Choate got things going for UT with an RBI single to left field and then scoring the go-ahead run.

The Bulls answered in the bottom of the fifth with a couple singles and a throwing error by UT to take a 4-2 lead.

Samantha Showalter got the Rockets back in the running with only a run separating the teams by hitting an RBI sacrifice fly to right field in the top of the sixth. She finished the day 3-3 with two stolen bases, an RBI and run scored.

The Bulls put things out of reach in the bottom half of the frame with a solo-homerun to lead off the inning and an RBI single later in the inning put things out of reach at 6-3.

The Rockets will welcome the Miami Redhawks this weekend with a three game series this weekend. First pitch is set for 3 p.m, Friday, April 1, at Scott Park.