TOLEDO, Ohio (Interstat) — The Toledo Rockets defeated Kent State 9-6 on Saturday afternoon at Scott Park Baseball Complex in a Mid-American Conference matchup.

Toledo struck quickly in the first inning, taking a 3-0 lead on an RBI sacrifice fly by JP Wagner and a two-run homer by Cade Baker. The Rockets extended their lead to 4-0 in the third on Wagner’s run-scoring single.

Kent State answered in the fourth, scoring on a wild pitch, but Toledo erupted for three runs in the bottom half to go ahead 7-1. An RBI single by Charlie Scholvin and a two-run double by Liam Arsich highlighted the inning. The Rockets added a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Sudbrook.

Kent State’s Ripken Reese homered in the sixth to cut the deficit to 8-2, but Cole Cahill’s solo homer in the seventh made it 9-2. The Golden Flashes rallied for three runs in the eighth on a wild pitch, an RBI groundout by Luke Matthews and a run-scoring single by Sawyer Solitaria, then added another run in the ninth on Micah Rienstra-Kiracofe’s RBI single, but fell short.

Toledo pitcher Michael Fliss earned the win, allowing two earned runs over six innings with eight strikeouts. Kent State’s Nick Guidas took the loss in relief. The Rockets improved to 29-27, while Kent State dropped to 39-13.