Baseball brawl

A warm, sunny day at Amherst Audubon Field turned ugly for the Buffalo and Canisius baseball teams.

The cross-town rivalry erupted in the bottom of the third inning after a bench-clearing fight resulted in the cancellation of the afternoon game.

"I think there's been quiet apprehension between the two teams starting last year," said Buffalo head coach Bill Breene. "We're rivals. There are a lot of local kids and these kids know each other."

The skirmish began as senior first baseman James Kingsley came to the plate in the bottom half of the third inning. Kingsley was hit in the arm on the first pitch by Canisius pitcher Mike Bax.

Kingsley glared at Bax as he walked to first and made it known that he didn't appreciate being hit.

The next batter was junior catcher Dan Quinn. Quinn drove the ball to left field, over the outstretched glove of Canisius left fielder Connor Burke. With two outs, Kingsley was running on contact and used the Canisius misplay in the field to his advantage. Kingsley rounded third and showed no signs of slowing down.

The throw from Burke arrived at the plate and Golden Griffins catcher John Papierski stood directly in front of Kingsley, blocking any access to the plate for the Bulls first baseman.

Kingsley flew into Papierski with tremendous force and Papierski lay on the ground for a moment, disoriented. Papierski then jumped up and charged Kingsley seconds after the Buffalo player had knocked him over.

"In my opinion, I think their catcher was blocking the path to the plate and my runner has the right to the plate," Breene said. "It was bang-bang, and the players elected to collide and then the catcher went after Kingsley."

The two players rolled around on the ground on home plate and exchanged punches before Canisius' fielders flew there to protect their catcher.

In the blink of an eye, the benches cleared and the fight erupted into an all-out brawl behind home plate. A pile-up was created directly behind the batter's box. The fight then spilled out to the backstop and several players from both teams were involved in individual fights.

"I think it was a good clean baseball play," said Kingsley about the play in a statement. "Unfortunately things escalated and it got out of hand. It happened and now we have to move on."

The umpires and coaches cleared the area behind the plate and the fight subsided only a few minutes after Kingsley and Papierski collided and created the brawl.

The players were relegated to their respective benches as the umpires and managers conversed in front of home.

The conflict increasingly grew heated as Breene and Canisius head coach Mike McRae stood eye to eye, separated only by home plate umpire Ben Drew. The two coaches jawed at each other, citing each other's player as the instigator.

"You've been throwing at him (Kingsley) for two years," yelled Breene at McRae during the heated argument.

When asked about the statement, Breene declined comment.

"I'd rather leave it at that," Breene said. "Just look at the box scores."

Kingsley has been hit twice in the last two years by Canisius pitchers.

Following the argument between the coaches, Drew announced that the game was suspended due to the brawl. However, Breene thought the game should've continued.

"I thought there was maybe a point where cooler heads were prevailing," Breene said.

Breene believed that this latest disagreement between the head coaches resulted in the game's suspension.

After tempers subsided and the umpires discussed the brawl, Drew ruled that both teams were guilty of leaving their positions and escalating the incident. Drew then ruled that every member of each team should be ejected and subject to an automatic three-game NCAA suspension. Members of both teams will be suspended at different times throughout their remaining schedules so that each one will have enough players for each game and will not be forced to forfeit.

There were three exceptions to Drew's ruling. Canisius center fielder Matt Mazurek was viewed by Drew as the only peacemaker between the two teams and was subsequently not ejected or subject to any suspension. Kingsley and Papierski received an automatic ejection for fighting but are subject to only a one game NCAA suspension for the original incident.

According to a press release on Tuesday, Buffalo athletic director Warde Manuel promised to look into the situation and declared that additional school sanctions may be impending.

"It was an unfortunate situation that is not indicative of our athletic program or the baseball team," Manuel said in a press release. "The department will be fully investigating the situation."

The next time the two teams will match up is Tuesday, April 25 at 3 p.m. at Amherst Audubon Field for the first game of the Big Four Baseball Classic.

"I'm going to tell my guys to put it behind them and play the games," Breene said. "But I'm not going to let them be intimidated."

The Bulls next take the field Friday at Western Michigan. The game will begin at 3 p.m. There are no current plans to resume the game against Canisius.