It was an eventful week for the UB baseball team (9-13, 2-6 MAC), who dropped a double-header on Tuesday against Kent State at Dunn Tire Park in downtown Buffalo and came back with a win Wednesday at Niagara.
Game 1: Meltdown in Last Inning Costs Bulls 7-3 Decision Against Flashes
Game one on Tuesday afternoon was tight for the first six innings as UB starter Mark Gerrard (1-1) held Kent State to only two runs. In the bottom of the sixth UB tied the game at two with RBI singles by Eric Huber and John Boom.
Then came the top of the seventh. After the first two outs Gerrard walked the next batter and hit two more to load the bases for Kent State's Chris Welch. Welch took Gerrard's offering to left, scoring two. A wild pitch by relief pitcher Anthony Puccia allowed another run to score. Junior outfielder Brian Zelasko completed the melt down by dropping a fly ball that brought in the final two runs.
Zelasko hit a RBI single in the seventh that made the final score to 7-3. Gus Hlebovy (2-1) picked up the win for the Golden Flashes.
Game 2: Plenty of Runs as Kent State Downs UB 17-8
UB got off to a great start with freshman shortstop Phil Vanhorne hitting his first collegiate homerun to put the Bulls up 2-0. The lead didn't last long.
In the third, UB starter Mike Leslie loaded the bases before Kent State's Welch connected for a grand slam. KSU's Pat O'Brien followed with a solo shot to chase Leslie (0-4) off the mound. John Sullivan, in relief, didn't fair much better, as Chad Kinyon touched him for a three-run blast later that inning. Two more solo homers in the fourth gave Kent State a 13-2 advantage.
UB junior Brian Sanchez hit one of his two homeruns in the bottom of the fourth. Tim Sova led off the fifth with a double that extended his hitting streak to seven games. Sova later scored on a Golden Flash error at third. Sanchez then hit his second shot, a three-run homer that scored Brandon DiCesare and Vanhorne.
Kent State would go on to add another run in the eighth and three in the ninth. UB got one more in the ninth when Sanchez's groundout scored Joe Mihalics. With the two victories, defending MAC tournament champ Kent State improves to 16-11 overall and 5-1 in league play.
UB Pitches Niagara A Loss
Pitching was the key for the Bulls as the UB baseball team traveled to cross town rival Niagara University's John Bobo Field on Wednesday and picked up a 7-2 victory.
Thanks to timely pitching by three Buffalo hurlers, Niagara (6-23) stranded 14 base runners.
Junior Mark McMahon was the starting pitcher going four innings while allowing three hits and eight free passes, while getting three strikeouts. Luckily his lack of control did not hurt him, as he escaped his four innings of work with no runs allowed.
Buffalo opened the scoring when DiCesare led off the fourth with a double and crossed the plate when he and Boom traded places on second after a Boom double.
Sanchez continued his power surge with a two-run homer in the sixth inning that plated Vanhorne in front of him.
Vanhorne then added two RBI's of his own in the seventh to make it 5-0 UB. DiCesare chipped in with an RBI as well, to make it 6-0 by the end of the seventh.
Senior pitcher Brendan Dunford (3-4) picked up the victory with two scoreless innings of relief that included four strikeouts.
Sophomore Nick Bellacose closed out the final three innings to earn his first save as a Bull. He allowed two runs, including a Josh McCurdy homer.
Senior Corey Blair's sacrifice fly in the eighth closed out the scoring for the Bulls.
The hot bat of Sova was finally put to rest as he went zero for four and got gunned down at the plate in the seventh. This ended a seven game streak for both hits and runs scored.
Buffalo resumes conference play when they travel to Miami of Ohio Friday for a four game series.
