Rockets Brought Back Down To Earth As Everything Goes Wrong Against Northern Illinois

Photo Credit: Bree Bee

Written By: Sawyer Knierim

Date: May 22nd, 2026

According to Murphy’s Law, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. The adage highlights the inevitability of errors and unforeseen complications. For the Toledo Rockets today, there were many errors and complications. Northern Illinois took advantage of it all, winning 9-3.

It started with a weather prediction. Rain in the forecast forced the game to be moved from 6:05 PM to 4:45 PM. However, it did not matter, as the rain came early.

Hayden Frey would be the starting pitcher. Rob Reinstetle, the head coach of the Rockets, said yesterday that Frey did not pitch against Kent State due to “tenderness” and that he wanted him to be rested. Frey needed all that rest today, as the first few innings would be very difficult for him.

The opening innings were a grind. Frey struggled to consistently command the ball in the rain, and Northern Illinois kept pushing him into deep counts. He threw more than 40 pitches in the first two innings.

Still, Frey did not fold. After a shaky start, he settled in and gave Toledo a chance. He worked 5.2 innings and was charged with three runs, two of which scored after he left the game. On a day when very little came easily, Frey’s ability to weather the literal and figurative storm was one of the few things keeping the Rockets alive.

But even when Frey made pitches, Toledo could not get out of its own way. Several mishandled plays extended at-bats and innings, driving up Frey’s pitch count and giving Northern Illinois extra chances. The Huskies did not need much help, yet the Rockets kept handing it to them.

On offense, the Rockets could not get anything going, managing only 5 hits. Danny Cihocki was a dog on the mound for the Huskies today, striking out 7 batters. The frustrating part for Toledo was that the offense did not look completely overmatched.

The Rockets made some solid swings on the ball and had moments when it felt like the dam might finally break. But every hard-hit ball found a glove, and every break seemed to tilt toward Northern Illinois.

Then came the 6th inning. Deron Swanson entered to relieve Frey, who had reached 113 pitches. He allowed 2 runners to score before getting a lucky break when a high passed ball bounced off the backstop and into the catcher Jacob Payne, who tagged the runner out at home. While everything had gone wrong for the Rockets today, it seemed their luck was turning.

Then came the 7th inning.

Everything unraveled. Swanson could not find the strike zone, walking four batters and allowing Northern Illinois to pile on. Then, after Cole Smith hit a grand slam, his grandmother broke out the rye bread and mustard. The dam had now burst, drowning the Rockets in runs they could not come back from. There were more fielding errors and mishaps, but by then the game was well out of hand. They managed to cobble together a couple runs before the end of the game.

This Rockets team had allowed only 2 runs throughout the entire tournament until today. They also scored 8 runs in both previous games. That version did not show up today. The Rockets tried to weather the storm, but everything kept piling up, and it eventually became too much to overcome.

The Rockets will face Kent State in a rematch at 11:00 am tomorrow. Their path to the MAC Championship has become extremely difficult. However, Reinstetle and Captain Charlie Scholvin have made it clear that this team has the mentality to win it all and can win any day of the week. Unfortunately, today was not that day.

WXUT will continue to provide coverage of Rocket Baseball on our social media pages and online at 88.3 FM WXUT. Tune in tomorrow for our coverage of their game against Kent State.