A string of defeats for Buffalo softball grew in bleak fashion over the weekend. On Friday and Saturday, the team was shut out in four games at the East Carolina State Farm Pirate Classic, including a loss to the California Golden Bears, who are ranked No. 6 in the nation.
The Golden Bears (28-2) entered the game fresh off a victory over the Chinese National Team and crushed the Bulls 13-0. California was led by Lauren Frankiewicz's stellar pitching performance. She allowed just three hits and three walks to Buffalo batters.
Sophomore infielder Laura Kor managed to get two of those hits off of Frankiewicz with the only other one being produced by junior pitcher Sophie Barstad
The Bulls (8-19) felt the continued aftershocks of missing several starters in the lineup due to various injuries. This was very evident in how they opened up the tournament on Friday against Penn State (18-3) at ECU Field, falling to the Nittany Lions 6-0.
"Injuries are still killing us," said head coach Marie Curran. "We are still missing three starters."
Senior infielder Lauren Picciano, junior infielder Colleen Greene, and freshman outfielder Erin Zilka all saw no action in either Friday or Sunday's games.
The Bulls led the game 2-0 after two innings, before the Nittany Lions pulled away with a four-run fourth inning that cemented the win. The Nittany Lions' Jenn Reynolds held Buffalo to just four hits in the shutout.
Three of Buffalo's four hits came from sophomore utility player Marcy Hansen, who finished the afternoon 3-for-3. Freshman infielder Ashley Kanavy recorded the Bulls' other hit.
In the third game of the tournament, Buffalo took on the host team East Carolina Pirates (21-15), and were defeated 4-0. Brooke Swann pitched a complete game shutout for the Pirates while Vanessa Moreno had two RBIs for the Pirates.
Junior Mary Russell led the Bulls with 2-for-3 hitting against East Carolina while Kanavy recorded the first double of her collegiate career.
The Pirates scored all four runs in the game in the third inning. They were also out-hit by the Bulls who had six to East Carolina's three. ECU made up for it in the error department though, by only committing one to Buffalo's three.
Although the results seemed grim from most perspectives, Curran found a few positives to focus on.
"We are getting a lot of people in scoring position," Curran said. "We just need to start stringing a couple more hits together and get some more runs and then more confidence. Defensively, we are getting much stronger. The regular position players are getting more comfortable."
Barstad spent the majority of the time on the pitching mound, earning losses to both California and Penn State, while freshman pitcher Jennifer Biernacki took the loss against East Carolina.
"Sophie threw for all the games," Curran said. "She has done a really good job. None of Cal's All-American hitters got a hit off against her."
The Bulls also fell to Coastal Carolina on Sunday, 8-0. For a full story, see Wednesday's issue of The Spectrum.
Buffalo travels to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to take on the Panthers with a 4 p.m. start time and then open up conference play against the Bowling Green Falcons on Friday at home at Nan Harvey Field at 1 p.m.
