TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo baseball team opens MAC Tournament play on Wednesday against Central Michigan at 10:30 a.m. at First Merchants Ballpark Complex in Muncie, Ind.

The No. 3 seed Rockets and No. 2 seed Chippewas will face off in the first game of the tournament, which will be followed by the No. 1 seed Ball State Cardinals taking on the No. 4 Ohio Bobcats at 4:00 p.m. The entire tournament will be streamed live on ESPN+.

2022 MAC Tournament Schedule

Wednesday, May 25
Game 1 – No. 2 Central Michigan vs. No. 3 Toledo | 10:30 a.m. | ESPN+
Game 2 – No. 1 Ball State vs. No. 4 Ohio | 4:00 p.m.

Thursday, May 26
Game 3 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser | 10:30 a.m.
Game 4 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner | 4:00 p.m.

Friday, May 27
Game 5 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser | 12:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 28
Game 6 – Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner | 12:30 p.m.
Game 7 – If Necessary

How We Got Here
Toledo clinched its MAC Tournament spot during its final home weekend against Northern Illinois, its first tournament berth since 2018.

The regular season championship came down to the final weekend, with Central Michigan holding a half-game lead over Ball State for first place in the conference standings. The Rockets defeated the Chippewas, 4-2, on Thursday while Ball State defeated Miami by a score of 7-4, pushing the Cardinals into first place. Ball State would go on to sweep Miami, clinching the regular season title with a 13-2 run-rule victory on Saturday.

Ohio clinched its tournament spot with an 8-5 win over Western Michigan on Thursday.

Rockets at a Glance
Toledo (32-23, 23-16 MAC) brings plenty of firepower on the mound and at the plate into this week's tournament. The Rockets boast one of the better pitching staffs in the MAC, ranking third in the league in ERA (4.65) and in BB/9 (3.7). They're led by junior right-hander and staff ace Kyle Jones who sports a 7-3 record, 3.74 ERA, and has collected a school-record 108 strikeouts this season. Connor Brandon (7-4, 4.37 ERA, 81 K's), Jordan Power (6-3, 51 K's), and Camryn Szynski (3-2, 3.35 ERA) round out a talented weekend rotation for Toledo, and Cal McAninch (2.25 ERA, 6 saves, 32 K's) has been formidable out of the bullpen.

At the plate, the Rockets have four hitters batting at least .300: Garret Pike (.337), Jeron Williams (.323), John Servello (.312), and Mason Sykes (.305). Sykes and Servello have belted 13 and nine home runs, respectively, and Williams' 22 stolen bases are the most by a Rocket since Tyler Grogg's 26 thefts in 2014.

Last Time Out
The Rockets wrapped up the regular season in Mount Pleasant against CMU, going 1-2 in the scheduled four-game series that was cut to three games due to rain on Saturday.

Toledo never trailed in its 4-2 win on Thursday and was led by Kyle Jones, who turned in another excellent start on the mound, striking out seven across six innings and allowing just one run. He became Toledo's all-time single-season strikeout leader in the first inning, surpassing the previous record of 102 set by Jeremy Griffiths in 1999. Jones ended the day with 108 strikeouts on the year. Cal McAninch allowed a run for the first time since April 15, but kept the Chippewas in check with zero walks in three innings of work out of the bullpen. At the plate, Mason Sykes turned in a perfect 4-for-4 day with a home run and three runs scored. Redshirt freshman Trey Wright and sophomore Scott Mackiewicz both drove in runs for Toledo as well.

The Rockets played well in Friday's doubleheader except for two brutal innings in which they gave up 13 combined runs, losing game one 8-2 before dropping the second game, 7-6.

Saturday's game was called in the fourth inning, with Toledo winning 4-1 at the time of cancelation.