Rockets Blast Off After Leininger Clips The Cardinals

Photo Credit: Bree Bee

Written By: Sawyer Knierim

Date: May 20th, 2026

The Toledo Rockets entered the MAC Baseball Tournament as the No. 3 seed, carrying unfinished business.

After reaching the championship game last season, Toledo opened this year’s tournament with another run in mind. Its first test came against the sixth-seeded Ball State Cardinals in a double-elimination format where every win matters. Head coach Rob Reinstetle told his team the message was simple: win. More specifically, stay in the winner’s bracket.

The Rockets did exactly that Wednesday, beating Ball State 8-2 behind a complete-game performance by Nathan Leininger and timely production across the lineup. Leininger threw 130 pitches, struck out eight batters, and allowed just two runs while working out of trouble throughout the afternoon. Ball State put runners on base and had several chances with runners in scoring position, but Leininger consistently limited the damage.

“Nate’s the MAC Pitcher of the Year for a reason,” Reinstetle said. “He went out there and pitched his butt off.”

As the pitch count climbed, each inning seemed to be Leininger’s last. Instead, he kept going back out and kept delivering outs when Toledo needed them most.

“He’s an ace,” Reinstetle said. “You know he’s really good.”

Toledo’s offense gave him plenty of support. Troy Sudbrook opened the scoring with a solo home run to deep right field, setting the tone for a Rockets lineup that kept applying pressure. Toledo added three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, using two-out hits and contributions from the bottom of the order to pull away.

“We had some big, big hits with two outs,” Reinstetle said. “Ryan Sudbrook, Jacob

Payne, and a lot of guys really performed.”

Reinstetle specifically highlighted the bottom of the lineup and praised Troy Sudbrook’s three-hit, two-RBI performance as a key part of the win.

“All those guys, one through nine, performed today, and that was good,” Reinstetle said. “We need to keep doing that.”

With the win, Toledo advances in the winner’s bracket and avoids the immediate pressure of an elimination game. The Rockets will face Kent State tomorrow, Thursday, May 21, at 6 p.m.

WXUT will continue to cover Toledo’s MAC Tournament run on its website and social media pages. Fans can also tune in to 88.3 FM WXUT for the broadcast of Thursday’s matchup against Kent State.