The Oakland University baseball team dropped a close 13-12 decision versus Toledo on the OU Baseball Field Wednesday afternoon. OU pitchers walked seven batters in the fifth inning as Toledo put up nine runs and Oakland never recovered. Oakland falls to 0-13, while Toledo improves to 9-9. Toledo struck in the first inning with a run on an RBI single by Mike Meinhart. OU answered with two-out single by senior Kip Harris to tie the score at 1-1. The Golden Grizzlies took the lead 2-1 in the third inning as Josh Masden crossed the plate on a ground ball hit by Casey Caid. The Rockets exploded in the fifth inning as they walked across four runs, tacking on nine on just two hits and seven walks to lead 10-2. Oakland tacked on two runs in the bottom half of the fifth with a double by Matt Gabrielli to trail 10-4. The Golden Grizzlies continued to claw their way back as they added five runs in the seventh with a two RBI single by Masden and a couple of RBI singles by Caid and Chris Kimball, as OU cut the lead to 10-9. Toledo added two more runs in the ninth as Tony Miller and Meinhart had RBI singles to increase the lead to 13-9. Oakland tried to answer in the bottom half of the ninth as the Golden Grizzlies scored three runs with two outs but left the bases loaded and fell by a final of 13-12. Righthanded pitcher Brad Morenko pitched 4.1 innings, giving up four hits, five runs, five earned runs, walked three and struck out three for the loss. Morenko falls to 0-4. E.T. Ducey picked up the victory for the Rockets throwing three innings in relief. Ducey improves to 1-1. Leading the way for Oakland offensively was catcher Gabrielli, leftfielder Harris and secondbaseman Masden. Gabrielli went 3-for-5, with a double and three RBI. Masden went 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Harris went 3-for-6 with two RBI. Also pacing the Grizzlies were leftfielder Nick DiPonio and shortstop Kimball. DiPonio went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Kimball went 2-for-6 with a double and RBI. Oakland plays host to UD-Mercy on Saturday, March 24. It will be a doubleheader starting at noon. Box Score