The baseball team will have to wait just a little bit longer before they can play a true home game. Due to unplayable field conditions at Buffalo's home territory, the Amherst Audubon Field, their series against Northern Illinois was moved to McGraw-Jennings Field at St. Bonaventure University in Olean, NY. Last weekend's series marked the opening of the Bulls' Mid-American Conference portion of their schedule.
The Northern Illinois Huskies (7-10, 3-0 MAC) swept the Bulls, winning both games of Saturday's doubleheader, 10-3, and 17-1, and then put the icing on the cake by taking the last game of the set on Sunday, 6-4.
Buffalo (5-14, 0-3 MAC) started the series on a good note, scoring two runs in the first inning and jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead. The Bulls extended their lead to 3-1 by the sixth inning.
The seventh inning, however, became one the Bulls would soon like to forget as they surrendered eight runs in the top half of the inning and eventually fell 10-3 to the Huskies. Dave Reynolds led the Huskies' charge, smacking a grand slam as well as a double in the seventh inning.
The second game was no better for the Bulls as Northern Illinois jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the first two innings before the Bulls were able to score their only run of the game, making the score 7-1. The Huskies' parade of runs, three of four of which occurred during the game's first six innings, led to a 17-1 victory.
Sunday's third game of the series was Buffalo's best chance at its first MAC victory of the year. Buffalo scored first in the bottom of the second inning on a trio of errors by the Huskies. Junior designated hitter Chris Ciesla opened the inning by reaching base on a throwing error by the Huskies' shortstop. After a walk moved Ciesla to second, he advanced to third on a double play. Another error, this time by the Northern Illinois first baseman, allowed Ciesla to open the scoring for the Bulls.
Head Coach Ron Torgalski is still hopeful that the Bulls will bounce back despite opportunities lost during the Northern Illinois series.
"We just need some guys to step up and give us a lead. We want to put pressure on the opposing team. That allows us to be aggressive," Torgalski said.
Northern Illinois tied the game in the fourth when a two-out walk to Justin Behm led to the first run of the game for the Huskies. After the walk, Behm then stole second and scored on a single by Tim Kamin.
Sophomore right fielder Adam Skonieczki led off the sixth inning with a home run for the Bulls. Junior catcher Rob Mancini led off the seventh with solo shot over the left field fence, giving Buffalo a 3-1 lead.
"Adam Skonieczki has been hurt and he is just getting back into the lineup so it was good for him to swing the bat. He is looking good at the plate," Torgalski said.
After the Huskies scored a run in the seventh, they tied the game again in the eighth on another RBI single by Kamin.
Buffalo would regain the lead when junior shortstop Jacob Rosenbeck tripled to open the eighth inning. Ciesla drove in Rosenbeck with a single to right field to give the Bulls a 4-3 lead. Northern Illinois answered again in the ninth, scoring four runs on three hits to take their first lead of the game 6-4.
"I thought we were in control. We were playing some pretty good baseball. We were hitting their starter pretty good and we just hit a wall," Torgalski said.
Junior pitcher Mike Stangroom made his first conference appearance as a Bull, throwing six innings and allowing only one run and five hits. The right-hander struck out five Northern Illinois batters and allowed just one walk.
"He gave us six great innings. For his first weekend start of conference play, I thought he pitched a great game and I felt bad we didn't get the kid a win," Torgalski said.
This season, Stangroom has made six trips to the mound, with a 3.24 earned run average and has struck out 16 batters in 16.2 innings of play.
Mancini and Skonieczki each jacked one out of the park in Sunday's contest against Northern Illinois, bringing Buffalo's season home run total to 13. Last year, the Bulls hit only a handful of home runs during the entire 51-game season. For Mancini, the home run was his second of the season and for Skonieczki it was his first dinger of the year and the first of his Bulls career.
Tallying hits in all three games against Northern Illinois, Ciesla is now working on a five-game hitting streak. The last time Ciesla played a hitless game was on March 14 against Notre Dame. Before the Notre Dame game, Ciesla hit safely in 12 consecutive games. He has a team-best .342 batting average and is also tied for the team-lead in doubles with five.
The Bulls will head to Syracuse this Tuesday for a non-conference game against Le Moyne at 2 p.m. Buffalo will then host a three-game Mid-American Conference series against the Chippewas of Central Michigan this weekend, March 28-30. Friday's game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. First pitch on both Saturday and Sunday is slated for 1 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
