The Rocket Liftoff Podcast

The Rocket Baseball Team won 33 games last season and qualified for The MAC Postseason Tournament for the first time since 2017. With Fall practice and exhibitions now wrapped up, work has begun to install turf on the infield at Scott Park. Coach Rob Reinstetle joins Brent Balbinot to break down high expectations and preview the upcoming Spring season. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/priva...

Every Fall the University of Toledo Varsity T Hall of Fame honors their newest inductees to the ranks. President Brent Reed and committee member Dave Bruns joins Brent Balbinot to breakdown this year's list and spread the word to all UT alumni athletes about becoming a member. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-...

The University of Toledo Women's Golf Team has two meets under their belt as they prepare for the Rocket Classic. Fifth year Head Coach Jenny Coluccio sits down with Brent Balbinot to breakdown the season and preview their upcoming tournament on this edition of The Rocket Liftoff Podcast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-...

Coming off the a season that saw the program's first ever post-season bid, the University of Toledo Volleyball won the first three matches of the Fall. Now at 5-4 overall, The Rockets finally return home to host their first meet at Savage Arena. Coach Jason Oliver joins Brent Balbinot to break down the non-conference schedule, and preview the bulk of the season on this edition of The Rocket Liftof...

On August 1st, Al Tomlinson was named the next Deputy Athletic Director for External Affairs. Bringing a wealth of experience as both a former MAC student-athlete and a sports administrator, Tomlinson said the decision to come to the University of Toledo was easy. He sits down with Brent Balbinot on this edition of The Rocket Liftoff Podcast. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Cal...

The University of Toledo Soccer Team has an impressive 24 players with experience returning from last season's 10-win roster. Finally healthy, expectations are high for the upcoming Fall. Coach TJ Buccholz sits down with Brent Balbinot to give a preview. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

It's been just under 3 months since the University of Toledo Baseball Team finished their season in The MAC Tournament. In just under 3 weeks, practice resumes with the start of Fall Semester. On the heels of losing two frontline pitchers to the MLB Draft and 23 members of the roster returning from playing in Summer Leagues across the nation, the expectations are high for the Midnight Blue & G...

Last Fall was a season of firsts for the University of Toledo Volleyball Team: The first post-season bid in program history with the selection to play in the National Invitational Volleyball Tournament; The first post-season win in program history with a 1st Round victory over Indiana State. This year, the expectations are even higher. Head Coach Jason Oliver joins Brent Balbinot to give a preview...

The Rocket Men's Basketball roster is set to return 4 starters from last year's regular season champions. A talented group of newcomers, the benefit of extra practice time and competition in the form of a pre-season trip to Puerto Rico should help UT hit the ground running well before the November opener. JT Shumate, AJ Edu, Tyler Cochran, Javan Simmons and Cooper Davis talk about a little bit of...

The landscape of college athletics looks considerably different from just a couple seasons ago. Just a few months on the job as The University of Toledo Athletic Director, Bryan Blair is putting together a master plan for operating in a post-covid environment. Also, MAC Commissioner John Steinbrecher also stops by to breakdown the conference's and NCAA's newest challenges. See Privacy Policy at ht...

MAC FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS (PART 1) MAC Football Media Days were held earlier this week. With Toledo a preseason pick to finish second in the West Division, Seniors Dyontae Johnson and Jamal Hines say polls are for paper....it's about earning it on the field. Both players and Coach Candle sit down with Brent Balbinot to preview the upcoming season. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and...

On July 7th, Jessica Bracamonte was officially announced as the 12th Head Softball Coach in University of Toledo history. Having been an assistant in The ACC for the last 3 seasons and in The MAC for 6 seasons prior, she knew Toledo had the pieces of the puzzle in place to be a champion. Now the work starts. She sits down with Brent Balbinot to give both her background and a preview of what Rocket...

The University of Toledo Football Team boasted a defense last season that was Top 30 in the nation in two key categories: Passing Defense and Scoring Defense. One of the keys was a strong Linebacker corps. This Fall that group will be led by first year coach Pat Bastien. He sits down with Brent Balbinot to discuss his playing days at UAB, a coaching career that has taken him to some of the best pr...

University of Toledo Men's Basketball Coach Tod Kowalczyk said he never wanted to sign a recruit more in his entire career than he did Ryan Rollins. Rocket fans found out why once he suited up: From Freshman of the Year and 1st Team All-MAC his Sophomore season, to a Second Round (44th overall) NBA draft pick by Golden State. Rollins joins Brent Balbinot to talk about developing a love for the gam...

Corey Parker was a standout MAC Defensive Back during his time at Eastern Michigan. As a Head Coach at River Rouge High School in Detroit, he built a program from the ground up that qualified for the playoffs 11 straight years, competed in 3 state championship games....and won a Division 3 title in 2019. Now he's in his first year as the Defensive Backs at Toledo. Coach Parker sits down with Brent...

The University of Toledo has 16 different athletic programs consisting of nearly 500 athletes. Over the summer months ALL of them are out of season. That's when the strength and conditioning coaches really earn their paychecks. Assistant S & C Coach Brandon Hannum oversees multiple men's and women's teams. He breaks down the preparation time, science and philosophy behind the job with Brent Ba...

Kyle Jones set foot on the University of Toledo campus four years ago as a wide-eyed Freshman just trying to keep his head above water. After a Spring where he set the program single season strikeout record and received an invitation to the MLB Draft Combine, his name is expected to be called in this year's draft. He sits down with Brent Balbinot to recap his time in a Rocket uniform and what the...

The University of Toledo Women's Basketball Team tied a single season record and set a MAC single season record for wins in claiming the program's 10th regular season title this year. With 98% of their overall production returning, expectations are high for 2022-23. Coach Tricia Cullop joins Brent Balbinot to break down a great year, preview what she calls the toughest non-conference schedule in h...

This season's University of Toledo Baseball Team broke the 30-win mark for the first time in over a decade, qualified for the MAC Postseason Tournament for the first time in 6 years and produced players that broke the single season strikeout and single season homerun records. Head Coach Rob Reinstetle sits down with Brent Balbinot to recap a year that he thinks will be the launch pad for future su...

In 2018 Jenny Coluccio was named just the 3rd Head Coach in the history of the University of Toledo Women's Golf program. Taking a unique approach by today's standards, she decided not to use the transfer portal and instead build the roster from the ground up. She sits down with Brent Balbinot to discuss her philosophy, what she looks for in recruiting and high expectations with the entire roster...