Rockets winless in opening weekend

The University of Toledo baseball team kicked off their 2016 campaign over the weekend with three games in the Historic Dodgertown Classic in Vero Beach, FL.

To open the tournament, the Rockets lost to Ohio State 7-1 on Friday before dropping a 7-2 decision to Pittsburgh on Saturday. Toledo started Sunday with a 4-3 defeat to Niagara on Sunday.

UT capped off the tournament with another game against Ohio State that resulted in a 5-5 tie.

“It was good to get started,” said head coach Cory Mee. “The result wasn’t what we were hoping for, but I like the way we went out and competed.”

The Buckeyes got things started off early with a solo shot from redshirt junior Jacob Bosiokovic in the bottom of the first inning, off of junior pitcher Steven Calhoun over the left-center field wall. OSU added another run in the bottom of the second to enhance their lead to take an early 2-0 lead.

It was a pitchers’ duel for the next two innings as no runs were scored in the third or fourth innings. Ohio State blew the game open in the bottom of the fifth inning with a three-run home run by junior Jalen Washington to make the score 5-0.

The Rockets missed plenty of opportunities as they stranded seven runners on base and failed to get a hit with runners in scoring position.

OSU strengthened their lead when junior Troy Montgomery hit a two-run homer off of freshman Casey Johnson in the bottom of the sixth to raise the Buckeye lead to 7-0.

Toledo’s lone run of the game came in the top of the eighth inning when sophomore AJ Montoya cranked a solo home run to left field. Montoya led the Rocket offense with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate.

“I thought AJ looked really good offensively today,” Mee said. “As a whole, I liked our approach at the plate. We just need to continue to have good at-bats.”

Against Pittsburgh, Toledo started out with a lead in the top of the second following a double by junior first baseman Josh Cales to bring in senior infielder Dan Zuchowski.

Pitt responded with a run in the bottom of the second, third and fourth to take a 3-1 lead.

Toledo scored in the fifth to cut the Panther lead to one after a Montoya ground out bringing in sophomore Matt Hansen.

Pittsburgh scored one more in the sixth inning before putting the game away with a two-run RBI single by sophomore Charles Leblanc to make the score 7-2.

“It was a tough game for us,” Mee said. “I was really pleased with Ross’ start. It was a big thing to throw six innings on a weekend where we’re playing four games. He pitched very well and gave us a chance to win.”

Against Niagara, the game went down to the wire as the Rockets pushed the Purple Eagles to extra innings. NU won on a walk-off fielder’s choice in the bottom of the tenth to take a 4-3 victory.

“I’m really proud of the way we competed in tonight’s game,” Mee said. “I thought our defensive play was outstanding and it gave us the opportunity to win the game. Offensively, we are on the verge of breaking out but we need to just put some more quality at-bats together.”

Toledo got on the board first with a single by senior short stop Deion Tansel that brought in Hansen. Niagara responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first to make the score 2-1.

Junior Steven Duby came in relief for UT in the third inning and pitched 3.2 scoreless innings. UT took the lead again in the seventh inning with two runs to make the score 3-2. Niagara struck again quickly scoring in the eighth inning to tie the game up at 3 and forcing extras

In the final game of the Dodgertown Classic against the Bukeyes, the Rockets got out to a slow start letting in three runs in the first inning.Toledo fought back in the second and third innings as they scored four unanswered runs to take a 4-3 lead.

Both teams traded runs in the eighth inning to make the score 5-4. OSU tied the game with a sac fly in the ninth inning. The teams decided to call the game after the ninth inning due to travel arrangements flights they had back to their respective campuses.

“This was a really good college baseball game,” Mee said. “Both teams competed really well and I was proud of our team for playing so hard, especially after losing a tough one [the night before].”

The Rockets are back in action next weekend for a four game series with Charlotte beginning on Friday, Feb. 26 at 2:00 p.m.