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Box Score (PDF)

TOLEDO, Ohio -- The Ohio baseball team (10-9, 4-5 MAC) produced a tone-setting victory over Toledo (4-18, 2-7 MAC) in the opening game of a four-game Mid-American Conference weekend series at Scott Park, earning 13-2 run-rule win in eight innings on Friday (April 2).

The Bobcats' bats produced in a big way, with every starter recording at least one hit as Ohio pounded out 14 of them. Ohio also displayed great patience at the plate, coaxing 10 walks. The victory was punctuated by a two-out grand slam by senior center fielder Isaiah Peterson (Lincoln, Neb.) in the top of the eighth inning to give Ohio an 11-run cushion.

On the mound, junior left-handed starting pitcher Joe Rock (Aliquippa, Pa.) went the distance and struck out seven to improve to 4-1 on the season. He allowed two runs, one of which was earned on seven hits.

Ohio's hit parade was paced by graduate student third baseman Trevor Hafner (Perrysburg, Ohio), who went 3-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and three runs scored. Redshirt junior left fielder Trevor Lukkes (Tustin, Calif.) finished 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs while graduate student first baseman Harry Witwer-Dukes (Monmouth, Ore.) registered a pair of singles to go along with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. 

The Rockets struck first with a run in the bottom of the second, but Ohio responded by evening the score in the top of the ensuing frame. Redshirt senior shortstop Joe Weisenseel (Strongsville, Ohio) drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, took third on a passed ball and scored on a Toledo error.

The Bobcats took command of the contest in the fourth as Hafner drew a leadoff walk and scored one out later on a base hit to left by Weisenseel. Ohio did not relinquish control the rest of the way, as the Bobcats added a run to their total in each of the next two innings to expand their lead to 4-1. Witwer-Dukes led off the fifth with a single to left and then scored on a single to short by redshirt junior designated hitter Spencer Harbert (Middletown, Del.). The sixth saw Peterson draw a two-out walk and then scored on a base hit to right by Witwer-Dukes.

Ohio's lead swelled to 6-1 in the seventh as senior right fielder Sebastian Fabik (Lebanon, Ohio) and Hafner reached on back-to-back singles to lead off the inning and then both scored courtesy of a two-run double to left by Lukkes. Toledo got a run back in the home half, but the Bobcats put the contest out of reach with a seven-run eighth in which they batted around. Redshirt junior second baseman Michael Richardson (Cambridge, Md.) and redshirt senior pinch runner Devonte Washington (Twinsburg, Ohio) each scored on wild pitches, and Hafner drove in Harbert with an RBI single up the middle before Peterson came to the plate with the bases juiced and delivered what proved to be the final blow by belting a home run.

Ohio will look to build upon the big win to open the weekend when it faces Toledo in a doubleheader on Saturday (April 3). The first of two seven-inning games gets underway at noon ET. The games can be heard on WOUB 1340 AM and TuneIn and watched on ESPN3 (game one, game two). Live stats are also available.

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