It was an ugly weekend for the softball team; struggling bats and inconsistent pitching spoiled its first series at home and has forced it to play catch up in the Mid-American Conference.
Buffalo (7-15, 0-3 MAC) dropped a doubleheader on Friday to Eastern Michigan (14-18, 3-1 MAC) and a Saturday game to Central Michigan (14-13, 1-2 MAC). The cold weather seemingly sent the Bulls into hibernation, as they lost contests in a myriad of ways.
Buffalo was only able to hold a lead for one inning all weekend.
After Saturday's 7-0 loss to the Chippewas in which the Bulls only recorded three hits, a fiery head coach Jennifer Teague questioned the leadership of her squad.
"It's tough, as a coach you prepare them as best as you can, but at some point your leadership and competitiveness need to take over," Teague said. "Our leadership on our team needs to get better. We need to make sure that we're accountable for our actions and make sure we bring energy to the field."
But the Bulls wouldn't get the chance to respond to her challenge on Sunday due to a rainout.
There was no area that the Bulls shined over the three games. On Friday, Buffalo couldn't keep opposing runners off the base paths, and on Saturday the Bulls couldn't get themselves on them.
Central Michigan's pitcher Kara Dornbos mowed down the Buffalo batters with ease on Saturday, tossing a three-hit shutout. Buffalo only had one runner get past second base on the afternoon.
"I thought we hit pretty good [Friday], and we had them watch some video to learn about themselves," Teague said. "I think they learned about themselves but didn't put it into practice. We hit the ball, but we didn't hit it with force."
Although Buffalo was lackluster at the plate against the Chippewas, it was poor pitching that lost the game against Eastern Michigan.
Buffalo fell victim to the mercy rule in the first game of the weekend with the game ending after five innings with the Bulls down by nine, 13-4. Three of the Bulls' pitchers saw action in the game, but none of them were able to stop the Eagles from circling the bases.
Senior Holly Johnson picked up the loss, giving up four runs in two innings.
"Holly is great when she wants to be great," Teague said. "That's really all I can say. When she comes to the field pumped up and ready to play she's great. But it's flipping a coin when she's going to come to the field ready to be great."
The pitching woes wouldn't end when Johnson left the mound, as Tori Speckman only lasted 1 1/3 innings and allowed the Eagles to tack on another three runs, leading to an early end to the contest.
Buffalo responded by scoring in the first inning of the next contest, but three runs in the top of the second put a quick end to the Bulls' momentum.
Johnson struggled in that contest as well, giving up six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. Senior Haylee Land came in and slowed down the Eastern Michigan offense enough for Buffalo to get back in the game but it wasn't enough to get the win as Buffalo fell 6-5.
"The movement on [Land's] ball is great," Teague said. "If we can get her and [Johnson] on the same page with some offense we'll be alright, but that's what we've got to figure out."
With the rainout Sunday, Buffalo wasn't able to respond to the challenge that Teague laid out to her squad. That opportunity will come on Wednesday at Ohio State (21-11, 5-1 Big Ten) in the form of a double header. First pitch will be at 2 p.m.
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