After taking two of three this weekend against Akron, the UB softball team split a doubleheader Monday afternoon against cross-town rival Canisius College.
The Bulls (10-23 overall, 6-6 Mid-American Conference) won the first game in extra innings by a score of 1-0, but the Golden Griffins (6-10 overall) captured game two with a lopsided score of 7-2.
In the first game, senior centerfielder Ann Magur stepped up to the plate with no outs and a runner on second. After a wild pitch that advanced sophomore Mary Russell to third, Magur, who had struck out in her two prior at bats, ripped a single to left center, scoring Russell to win the game in extra innings.
"(Canisius pitcher Andrea Bunten) threw me an outside pitch my first at bat and I lined it up the middle past her so she stayed inside," said Magur. "The third at bat with the game on the line, I knew I wasn't going to mess it up."
Head coach Marie Curran was pleased with Magur's clutch play.
"It was nice to take advantage of a wild pitch and get somebody on and a senior stepping up and hitting the ball out of the infield," she said.
Leading the Bulls' defensive charge was senior right-hander Stacey Evans. Working with no run support, Evans pitched eight scoreless innings while giving up just four hits and striking out six.
"Stacey (Evans) did a real good job at keeping them off balance. We were getting hits but with two outs and we were not pushing across the run," said Curran.
In the second game of the double-header, both offenses were held in check for the first five innings. In the sixth, the Golden Griffins broke out the bats for a six-hit, seven-run inning. Canisius outfielder Becky Owen sparked the high scoring inning when she drew a leadoff walk from sophomore starting pitcher Sophie Barstad.
After Owen's walk, Barstad gave up a double, a single, another walk and a double, eventually getting pulled from the game.
Unfortunately, game one's starter Evans could not stop the bleeding for the Bulls. After giving up a run-scoring single to Natalie Osika, Owen came up to bat for the second time in the inning and slapped a single into centerfield.
"The umpire squeezed her a little bit and she had to basically serve it up and they hit her hard," said Magur about starting pitcher Barstad. "We started to fall apart a little bit but they hit the ball hard and made plays. We just want to put this one behind us."
Owen's single proved to be a backbreaker, as the Bulls made two throwing errors to home for three more runs. A fly out to senior catcher Julie Hibner finally ended the inning.
"Take away one inning and we played well; but when we fell apart, we fell apart fast," said Curran.
Curran said the umpires played a role in the Bulls meltdown.
"Personally, sticking up for Sophie (Barstad), I think she got put in a bad position on strikes that should have been called that weren't called," she said.
Although the Bulls answered with two runs on three hits in the bottom of the sixth inning, it was not enough to overcome the Griffins' lead.
After a tough five games over three days, the Bulls will get a much deserved four-day rest before suiting up against conference rivals Northern Illinois.
With eleven conference games left to play in the regular season, the Bulls are at a pivotal 6-6. Buffalo hopes that three potential victories this weekend will provide the much-needed spark to propel conference momentum for the playoffs.
"We're looking for a three-game sweep here," said Magur. "We're tied with them in the MAC. We're both at .500 so we need to come out hard against them."
Curran has already started to formulate a game plan to contain the Huskies' newest threat.
"We've seen them already this year and they have a new pitcher, a sophomore transfer who has really nice movement on the ball," said Curran. "For the rest of the week we'll work on some offensive things and get our bodies loose. Our team gets up for conference games."
The Bulls face the Huskies in a doubleheader Saturday in DeKalb, Ill. Game one is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at Mary M. Bell Field.
