After starting the season 3-23, the Buffalo baseball team seems to finally be hitting its stride. The Bulls have won four of their last six and have won consecutive Mid-American Conference series for the first time in school history.
This past weekend, the Bulls (7-25, 6-9 MAC) were able to beat the Ohio Bobcats (14-23, 3-12 MAC) twice in their three game series on the road. The Bulls had 36 hits and scored 29 runs in those three games.
"The last couple weeks we're swinging the bats much better than we have, we've been getting some work done practice-wise," said head coach Ron Torgalski. "The guys are buying into what we're trying to teach and we're getting better."
On Friday, the Bulls were able to take an early lead in their 7-4 victory. In the first inning, sophomore left fielder Eric Flynn drove in junior second baseman Mike Folli on a groundout and the Bulls rolled on from there. The team added another run in the fourth when Flynn scored on a single by sophomore shortstop Brad Agustin. The Bulls then added two of their three runs in the sixth off the bats of Agustin and freshman third baseman Shivam Bhan.
Bulls senior starting pitcher Mike Radanovic scattered five hits and struck out three before getting into trouble in the eighth, leaving the bases loaded with two outs. The southpaw was replaced by sophomore pitcher Zach Anderson, who was not able to alleviate the damage, walking his first batter and then giving up a two-run base hit to make the score 5-3.
Sophomore relief pitcher Steve Geltz was then called from the pen to close the game. Radanovic earned his second win of the season for his effort.
"I thought (that on) Friday, we went out and took care of business we made plays we scored runs when we needed to. That was a good showing," Torgalski said.
The Bulls were able to score runs on Saturday, but it just wasn't enough as they dropped the second game of the series 14-9. Buffalo fell into an early 6-0 deficit after the second inning, but battled back to score five runs in the third. Bulls starting pitcher junior Mark Tourangeau only lasted two innings, facing 16 batters.
"We played sloppy baseball early and I was not happy about that. But we got down 6-0 we came back and made it 6-5," Torgalski said. "...We made that a game (with a comeback late) and it could've went either way."
The Bulls got their bats going again, down 9-6 heading into the eighth, and were able to inch closer with a one out, two run single from Folli and tied the game on an RBI from pinch hitting sophomore James Piazza.
Yet, Ohio added five more runs in the bottom of that inning, squashing any momentum the Bulls had built up in their rally. After a single by junior first baseman Nick Walczak in the top of the ninth, Agustin lined into a double play and Bhan struck out looking, to end the game.
The Bulls came right back on Sunday afternoon with 12 hits in their 13-10 victory. Buffalo took an 11-1 lead into the seventh but quickly got into trouble. Ohio's Matt Stiffler led off the inning with a home run. After giving up another single and a double, Bulls senior starting pitcher Adam Ruszkowski was pulled in favor of freshman James Flatley. Flatley was able to get two outs, but gave up four runs on four hits. Geltz then came into the game and gave up a double to Stiffler in his second at-bat of the inning. After surrendering a walk and then a two run double to Marc Krauss, he was able to force a pop-up to end the inning.
"It would have been easy for us to pack it in, being young like we are," Torgalski said. "But we didn't. We held on and got it done."
The Bulls were able to add two insurance runs in the final innings. Freshman centerfielder Bobby Pizzuto tripled to score Bhan in the eighth and Agustin scored on a sacrifice fly in the ninth off the bat of junior catcher Rick Oliveri, who hit .600 in the series. Geltz once again closed the game, giving up just one hit in his final two innings of work.
Folli had four runs in the Sunday victory. He got on base in his first at bat in each of the Bulls' weekend wins with a base hit and he currently leads the Bulls with a .362 batting average.
Also, in each of the games the Bulls won, the team was able to use Geltz. He had two saves and five strike outs in 3 2/3 innings of work in the series.
"When we get to Steve (Geltz) in the end, he usually comes in and gets the job done," Torgalski said. "I think the guys play with confidence behind him because they know he's able to make some pitches and he's going to get some outs."
The Bulls will next face off against three local rivals in the Big Four Classic this week at Niagara.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
