How Sweep It Is!

Despite the winter-like conditions, the Bulls were able to take both ends of a doubleheader from their cross-town rival Canisius Golden Griffins (11-23, 3-3 MAAC) Wednesday afternoon at the UB Softball Field.

With the temperature in the low to mid 40s and with winds gusting up to 30 miles an hour, you would think the game was being played in November instead of April. The low temperatures forced the second game to be called early.

The series was billed to be an afternoon of solid pitching on both ends, but it never materialized. The Bulls (13-14, 3-6 MAC) kept their end of the bargain in the doubleheader that featured some of the top pitching in the area. Pitchers Stacey Evans and Andrea Sage led the charge and gave the Bulls the edge to come out on top.

UB trailed in both games early on, but Buffalo opened the floodgates and never looked back as they took the first end of the doubleheader 9-1. The team started off slow in the second game but came back to win it, 6-4.

In the first game, Breanne Nasti started off the fourth inning with a base hit up the middle, which was followed by Allison Round's RBI single that scored her. Jessica Kensy ripped a shot past the outreached shortstop that scored Kelly Malone, making the score 2-1. Marce Ross continued her strong play with a hard hit RBI single out to center field that sent in Round to give the Bulls a 3-1 lead.

Later in the inning, with pinch runner Jackie O'Brien at third and Ross at first, Canisius made a heads up play and caught Ross stealing. With Ross stealing second and getting the attention of the catcher, O'Brien was told to steal home but did not, which made it an easy play for the Golden Griffins to tag out Ross.

"Some of it's just being thrown into situations and kids not getting innings in ... sometimes we throw girls into tough situations" said UB head coach Marie Curran.

It would be the only miscue on the day for the Bulls.

UB continued to rattle around the Griffs' starting pitcher Courtney Piar and did the same to her replacement Jena Jurich. In total, Canisius gave up eight hits and walked seven batters while only striking out three. Piar (4-9) took the loss for the Griffs.

In the fifth, Ann Magur reached first with a base on balls and later scored on a wild pitch while Jessica Kensy ripped a shot to the shortstop that drove in Nasti for her second RBI of the game. The Bulls would not back down as they kept making contact with the ball, but the Canisius defense made the plays to put them out and end the fifth.

"I was really happy overall. They came out and were making contact and not striking out," said Curran.

Starting pitcher Evans (8-8) did not leave any hope for Canisius to get back into the game as she went the distance, recording eight strikeouts, and picking up the win. Her eight strikeouts gave her 105 for the season and shattered her own school record of 101 that she set least year as a freshman. Evans gave up five hits while walking only two and giving up one earned run.

In the bottom of the sixth, with the score at 5-1 and Canisius hoping to put out the Bulls 1-2-3, UB was patient at the plate and got on base with three consecutive walks. With bases full, Nasti singled to left field scoring Ross. Again with the bases juiced, Malone got on with a fielder's choice but still got an RBI driving in Nasti. In the same sequence, Magur grounded to third and later scored on an error by the Griffin's third baseman Amanda Luukinen. Picciano scored as well.

The second game pitted Sage against Canisius hurler Andrea Bunten. Bunten (6-10) was smacked around for six hits and six runs in four innings and took the loss. Sage, on the other hand, went the distance, earning her third win of the year to improve to 3-2. Sage struck out five and scattered five hits while giving up only five runs in five innings of work in the shortened game.

The Bulls got on the board first with Magur scoring on Malone's fly ball to left fielder Rebecca Murphy that was dropped.

Canisius answered right back in the top of the second inning. The Golden Griffins scored three runs off of Sage with two outs. Melissa King started off the inning with a lead off double and later scored on Amanda Luukinen's RBI double. A throwing error by Marce Ross allowed Luukinen and Mary Burke to score, giving the Griffs a 3-1 lead.

UB re-claimed the lead in the bottom of the third and never gave it back. The Bulls scored five runs on four hits with Canisius giving up two errors to help Buffalo. Picciano and Magur had back-to-back singles to start off the third. Picciano scored on a wild pitch and Magur scored on Nasti's sacrifice fly, giving Nasti two RBIs for the afternoon. Round scored the last run of the inning on a wild pitch, giving the Bulls a 6-3 win.

Canisius scored one more run in the top of the fifth but it wasn't enough as the Bulls pitching, defense, and the cold helped shut down the Griffs. The game was called early due to weather.

UB had no problem with the pitching of the Golden Griffins, which is some of the best in WNY according to The Buffalo News, and used it as a stepping stone for what they will face this weekend against Central Michigan.

"We had Canisius this week to face good pitching to get ready for the best pitcher in the conference," said Curran. Buffalo will face the MAC's No. 1 pitcher by ERA, Amber Puchalsky, who carries a 9-4 record and 1.14 ERA into the series. Puchalsky averages more than one strikeout per inning with 89 strikeouts in 79 2/3 innings pitched.

The Bulls have a three-game series against the defending MAC champion Central Michigan that starts today at 3:30 p.m. and ends with a doubleheader on Saturday that starts at 1 p.m. For Buffalo, this could make or break their season as they are sitting at 3-6 in the MAC standings and need to finish at .500 or better to make the MAC playoffs.