With more than half the season gone, the softball team has had its fair share of disappointments, most recently being a two-week stretch of losing nine out of ten games. But as the Bulls traveled north this weekend a promising turnaround was on the horizon, as they turned in their best weekend stretch of the season.
The Bulls (12-21, 5-5 Mid-American Conference) traveled to Dekalb, Ill. on Friday and Kalamazoo, Mich. on Saturday. Two victories, 7-3 and 8-3, yielded a sweep against Northern Illinois (16-23, 4-6 MAC) on Friday, giving them a three-game winning streak heading into their matchup with Western Michigan (19-15, 4-7 MAC). The Broncos shut out the Bulls, 4-0, but Buffalo came back on Sunday with a 5-4 win.
"We played pretty well, but we always want to do better," said head coach Jennifer Teague. "We'd like to finish 4-0 coming out of the weekend, but 3-1 is a pretty good weekend."
The recent hot streak has the Bulls winning four out of their last five games.
The bats were cold heading into the week. The Bulls managed to score only five runs last weekend in their series against Bowling Green (25-16, 9-3 MAC). But after the 10-run outburst they produced in the mid-week game at Canisius (10-26, 3-3 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), Buffalo appeared to be a different team approaching the plate. In Friday's double-header against Northern Illinois it amassed 15 runs and 21 hits, while only surrendering six runs to the Huskies.
Sophomore second basemen Sammi Gallardo was a key contributor to the spark; she powered in six RBI's in only six at bats. Junior third baseman Alyssa Ward supplied the Bulls with four hits in the series.
The performances at the plate were matched with those on the mound. Sophomore pitcher Tori Speckman and senior pitcher Holly Johnson allowed only three earned runs in each of their starts.
However, their second series against Western Michigan would be more of a test for the Bulls. On Saturday they had only two hits against the Broncos.
"We ran into some pretty good pitching with Western Michigan," Teague said. "Senior Meredith Whitney is a fantastic pitcher; she's just a competitor on the mound. In that first game we were chasing her pitches instead of hitting the pitches we like to hit, and it transferred into a loss for us."
Even though the Broncos snapped the Bulls' three-game winning streak, Buffalo had a chance to get revenge on Sunday.
The Bulls found themselves trailing, 4-2, as they entered the fifth inning. With two runners on, freshman catcher Alexis Curtiss stepped up to the plate and delivered a two-run single to tie the game. Another clutch at bat by Gallardo later in the inning drove in Curtiss to give the Bulls a one-run lead that they would never give back.
Western Michigan came close to tying the game in the final inning. Broncos' outfielder Allie Carlson hit a pop fly to left field with runners on the corners. The runner on third ran toward home plate, but freshman outfielder Karly Nevez tagged her out, preserving the Bulls' victory.
While Nevez's play saved the game, Speckman won it on the mound. After Johnson gave up four runs in only two innings, Speckman came into the game and gave up only one hit in five innings to keep the Broncos from adding to their lead.
"With every win we gain confidence," Teague said. "No matter what our flaws are, everyday we're working to better those. We need to minimize errors in the field, minimize walks, and we need to capitalize on our good hitting."
The team will remain in Buffalo for the next two weeks for nine consecutive home games. After Wednesday's doubleheader against Niagara (9-20, 2-2 MAAC), opponent Kent State (22-20, 8-4 MAC) will make the trip to Buffalo for a weekend series. Game one is set to begin on Saturday at 2 p.m.
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Photo: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics
