Rockets Wrap Regular Season vs. Bowling Green this Weekend

TOLEDO, Ohio – The 2023 season comes to a close this weekend for the Toledo baseball team with a three-game series vs. archrival Bowling Green.

The Rockets and Falcons will begin their series on Thursday at Scott Park at 3:00 p.m. and conclude their weekend at Scott Park on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

For the third straight season, the Battle of I-75 contest will head Downtown Toledo to Fifth Third Field. First pitch for Friday’s game is set for 7:00 p.m.

Tickets are still available for the battle between the Rockets and Falcons in Downtown Toledo! Tickets can be purchased through the Toledo Mud Hens Ticket Office by visiting  utrockets.com/FifthThirdField to purchase tickets.

Toledo and BGSU have each won one meeting at Fifth Third Field. The Rockets won the first game, 5-2, in 2021 before the Falcons won, 5-4, in 2022.

All three games this weekend will be televised locally on BCSN. Thursday and Friday’s games will also be streamed live on ESPN+ and Saturday’s game will be streamed live on ESPN3.

Last Time Out vs. Bowling Green
Toledo and Bowling Green faced off in non-conference action on April 26 in a game UT won, 12-7.

The two squads swapped leads five times and combined for 24 hits. The Falcons grabbed the lead with a three-run top of the seventh, but Toledo answered with six runs in the bottom half of the inning to wrestle control of the game for good. Five different pitchers saw time on the mound for Toledo in that game, with Matt LeLito getting the starting nod. Kyle Music earned the win and Brennan McCune tossed 1.2 scoreless frames to earn the save.

Rewriting the Record Book
There are just three games left in the season, but several significant records have a chance to fall in the coming days:

• Owen Jackson has 16 home runs entering play this weekend, which is tied for most in a season in school history. Teammate Mason Sykes hit a record-setting 16 home runs last season.
• On April 26 vs. Bowling Green, Sykes hit his 36^th career home run to become Toledo’s all-time home run leader. He passed Dan Sherwood (35 home runs, 2008-11) with his fourth-inning blast vs. the Falcons. Sykes’ 37 career home runs are the most among all current MAC players.
• Jeron Williams broke Toledo’s single-season stolen base record on April 25 at Dayton and is threatening to break the MAC’s single-season record as well. He has 49 stolen bases on the year, most in the nation and putting him just one stolen base away from tying the all-time MAC single-season stolen base record of 50 set by Central Michigan’s Larry Lamphere in 1988.
• Williams could approach a few other single-season school records as well. His 90 hits are nine away from tying Chris Dudics’ record of 99 set in 2013; 63 runs scored are seven away from tying Andy Stetka’s record of 70 set in 2001; and his 145 total bases are seven away from tying Sean Dobson’s record of 152 set in 2004.
• The Rockets have also broken their single-season team records for home runs and stolen bases. UT’s 90 home runs clobbered the previous record of 65 homers set in 2002, and its 99 stolen bases overtook the single-season record of 85 set last season.
• Toledo pitchers have broken the single-season strikeout record in each of the last two years, and they could do it again this year. UT pitchers have accumulated 429 strikeouts this year, nine off the record of 438 set last year.
• One of the top fielding teams in the country, Toledo’s .979 fielding percentage this year ranks 18^th in the nation and would be the highest in a single season in school history.

About Bowling Green
BGSU is 18-29 entering this weekend and 11-16 in MAC play. The Falcons boast the reigning MAC Player of the Week in Adam Fallon, who hit .778 in last weekend’s three-game series vs. Northern Illinois. The pitching staff has seen success in punching out opposing hitters this season, collecting 341 strikeouts, which is 28 away from setting a new school record.