Rockets thaw bats in opener

Photo Courtesy of UT Athletics

Junior infielder Chandler Rice throws to first in a game last season.

The University of Toledo softball team got its 2016 season underway on Saturday at the Charlotte First Pitch Classic in Charlotte, NC.

The Rockets opened up with a 5-4 victory over the University of Massachusetts before dropping to Youngstown State 4-3 in the night cap. Toledo finished the weekend off with a 9-1 defeat to Charlotte.

“All day I thought we had good fight,” said Head Coach Kristen Butler. “We stayed very aggressive. We have ten newcomers to our squad this year and I think it was great experience for them.”

The Rockets started the season off hot with an RBI single to left field from sophomore DH Celeste Fidge bringing in redshirt freshman center fielder Ashley Rausch with the hit.

UMass responded in the bottom of the third with four runs, but wouldn’t score for the rest of the day.

With the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, redshirt freshman Kaitlyn Bergman singled to bring in two runs to make it 3-4.

In the top of the seventh Toledo put two more runs in to take a 5-4 lead off of a base hit to right field by sophomore Ashley Maynard. The right fielder for UMass made a fielding error, allowing both runs to score.

That was the fifth error of the day for the Musketeers

“(Getting the first win) It sets the tempo for the season,” Butler said. “I know with Toledo being a rebuilding program that getting wins is a step in the right direction for these young ladies.”

Toledo dominated the hit department against UMass with an 11-5 advantage. Nine Rockets picked up a hit in the process.

“The big thing there was that we had a couple of freshman get their first collegiate hit, which was pretty special,” Butler said.

In the night cap of Saturday’s double header, the Penguins jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first coming off of Toledo’s only error in the game.

The Rockets ended up tying the game with two runs of their own in the fifth inning.

Freshman Megan Choate singled, then advanced to third on a fielding error by YSU’s right fielder that caused freshman Kaitlyn Cozy and Bergman to score.

Choate was then driven in by a sacrifice fly to the center fielder by freshman Danni Ryan to give Toledo a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh YSU’s Sarah Dowd hit a two-run walk-off homerun to give the Penguins a 4-3 victory.

“I think it showed good character by our team that we kept fighting back,” Butler said. “We came from behind and held a one-run lead in the seventh inning.”

In the weekend finale on Sunday against Charlotte the Rockets ran out of gas, as they only managed to score one run in a 9-1 beat down.

The Rockets played some sloppy softball, committing three errors on the night.

Charlotte started out the gas with some help scoring on a past ball in the top of the first. The 49ers put three runs in at the top of the second, forcing Butler to pull freshman pitcher Danni Ryan after the inning.

Charlotte brought in a single run in both the fourth and fifth inning before UT’s Choate broke the shutout with a double to center bringing in freshman Kim Frank, making the score 6-1.

Senior Marla Gooding was brought in to pitch in the sixth inning and allowed three runs to score before the games end.

The Rockets will return to action at the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational on Feb.19-21. UT will open with Texas and Houston on Friday, before taking on Iowa State and the Cougars on Saturday and finishing up with the Longhorns on Sunday.