TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo baseball team dropped the middle game of a three-game Mid-American Conference series to Miami, 6-3 at Scott Park on Saturday.
 
The game was a pitchers’ duel early on. After four scoreless innings, the Redhawks struck first with a three-run home run in the fifth. Miami then added another run in the sixth and two more in the seventh for a 6-0 advantage. An impressive pitching performance by Miami’s Clayton Burke kept the Rockets (16-22, 12-8 MAC) off the scoreboard until the ninth inning.
 
Rockets’ starter Hayden Frey (3-2) went 6.0 innings, allowing four runs on six hits. He reached six frames for the third time this season and struck out at least six batters for the third time as well. Senior Cole Giesige tossed two scoreless innings, striking out the side in the eighth inning.
 
Redshirt junior Troy Sudbrook collected another pair of hits for his 17th multi-hit game of the season. Jacob Payne hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning, his fourth homer of the season.
 
The Rockets and RedHawks will conclude the series tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
 
Quoting Head Coach Rob Reinstetle
“As has been the story for the past two weeks, we played a good game for about five innings, the middle got away from us and we battled at the end. We could get nothing going on offense until the very end of the game. I thought Hayden Frey threw the ball well and kept us in it. It’s pretty simple – we have to get back to swinging the bats like we are capable and quit letting the pitcher dictate our at-bats. Tomorrow is pretty much a must-win to rally out of this slump and make a push back towards the top of the standings.”
 
Top Rocket Hitters

Pitching Lines


Hayden Frey (L, 3-2) – 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 Ks
Cole Giesige – 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 Ks

How it Happened


Scoreless heading into the fifth, Miami put their first two runners on base, before a three-run home run by Matthew Buffington gave the RedHawks a 3-0 lead.
With two outs in the sixth, a walk, wild pitch and single combined for a insurance run for Miami, 4-0. The next inning, the RedHawks scored twice off a single and a fielder’s choice to go up 6-0.
The Rockets took advantage of a two-out error in the ninth, leading to Jacob Payne’s three-run home run to cut the deficit to 6-3. A hit-by-pitch and single brought the tying run to the plate, but a strikeout ended the game.