UB and Ohio's baseball teams aren't exactly on the same page as the 1927 Yankees when it comes to offensive production. In fact, they aren't even on the same page as the lowly 2003 Detroit Tigers. UB is hitting just .261 as a team this season and Ohio is hitting .289.
But for some reason, when the Bulls (8-23, 1-6 Mid-American Conference) and Bobcats (12-21, 5-7 MAC) hook up, the scores usually resemble football scores, rather than baseball scores.
The last time these two teams met at Ohio's Bob Wren Stadium, their offenses combined for an astronomical 98 runs over four games. Ohio opened the 2002 series roughing up UB pitchers for 24 runs in game one but UB managed to amass 27 runs in the finale. In 2001 the series had 55 runs scored over three games.
Ohio's Anthony Gressick, Phil Sabatini, and Brian Colopy hope to duplicate the offensive explosion of two years ago, while the Bulls are looking for strong outings from their pitching to keep the games under control.
Over the last week, Gressick has been on fire. He hit .421 over the span, scoring six times and driving in four runs. This improved his season's production to a .378 average with 22 runs batted in while leading the team with seven homeruns.
Sabatini provides the Bobcats with another source of power. He leads the team with 29 RBI and has blasted six homeruns with a .300 average.
For Gressick and Sabatini to knock in all those runs, someone on Ohio's team needs to be consistently getting on base in front of the sluggers. The Bobcats rely on Colopy's amazing .507 on base percentage and .405 batting average to set the table.
On the mound, Ohio will count on strong outings from Chris Bova and Dan O'Rourke. Bova boasts a 3-5 record with a 3.99 ERA. He leads the Bobcats in innings pitched and strikeouts with 56.1 and 45 respectively.
O'Rourke is coming off the best start of his career against Marshall. He pitched a nine-inning complete game three hitter. During his performance, he struck out a career-best nine Thundering Herd batters.
UB has been getting some improved pitching of its own lately that will hopefully cool Ohio's hot bats. Chris McGraw has looked impressive over his last two outings. He recorded his first victory Wednesday against St. Bonaventure, allowing one run over four innings. McGraw also leads the Bulls' pitching staff with 33 strikeouts this season.
Offensively, James Kingsley continues to rip the cover off the ball. With his team-leading five homeruns and 23 RBIs, he is by far the most feared hitter in the Bulls' not so intimidating lineup.
Joe Mihalics also continues to excel at the plate as well. Almost all year Mihalics' average has been right around .400. Coming into the weekend, he was hitting .395 while driving in 18 runs.
The Bulls will need plenty of offense this weekend in order to come out of Athens on top. Kingsley and Mihalics cannot carry the load on their own and will need some help from the rest of the struggling lineup. For UB, it is critical to get the bats going this weekend. If this weekend resembles the series of 2002, Buffalo will need all the runs they can get.
The series gets under way today at 3 p.m. in Bob Wren Stadium in Athens, OH and continues Saturday and Sunday with games at 1 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
