Last season, it took the baseball team seven series (19 games) to win six games in the Mid-American Conference. This year, the squad has reached that mark after just nine games.
It's a new day.
The Bulls (16-13, 6-3 MAC) won their third consecutive series by taking two out of three from Toledo (11-18, 4-5 MAC) this weekend in Rochester.
"For us to be 6-3 and have won three MAC series in a row against three of the top teams in the Western division, [it] has to give our guys a lot of confidence," said head coach Ron Torgalski. "[The team] has realized that they can play with the best teams in the conference, and I think we started to realize that at the end of last year."
The long ball led the way for the Bulls in the series opener on Friday. Freshman designated hitter Tyler Mautner, senior second baseman Jon Mestas and senior centerfielder Jason Kanzler all went deep for the Bulls in their 6-3 win. For Kanzler, it was his team-leading seventh homer of the season; he expanded his team-high runs batted in (RBI) total to 35.
Kanzler and junior leftfielder Jimmy Topps continued their emergence as a one-two presence at the top of the order as they combined to go 5 for 8 with three runs scored and three RBI on Friday.
Game two was all about sophomore pitcher Anthony Magovney. He threw a complete game five-hitter, allowing only one run in Buffalo's 3-1 victory. Magovney struck out six without walking a single Rockets hitter.
"When Anthony pitches ahead and throws first-pitch strikes, he's very good and [on Saturday], he did that all day long," Torgalski said. "He pitched ahead of hitters and was throwing three [different] pitches for strikes. He was confident, and when he does that, Anthony's a really good pitcher. He was 0-1, 0-2, 1-2 on hitters all day long and put them in a tough position. When the pitcher is in a zone like that, it's tough on hitters."
Topps, Mestas and junior catcher Kyle Figgins had two hits apiece in Saturday's first game of the doubleheader.
In game two, however, the Bulls seemed to fall prey to exhaustion. They recorded only four hits while allowing 15 in a 3-0 defeat. It was the team's third-straight weekend playing a doubleheader.
"[Doubleheaders take] a big toll on us because we rely on the same couple of guys in the back end of our bullpen, and to have to play two games like that limits us," Torgalski said.
Junior shortstop and No. 3 pitcher Mike Burke seemed to feel the fatigue as much as anyone. After starting the first game at shortstop, he was called upon to start the second game on the mound and appeared to "run out of gas," as Torgalaski put it.
"When we have to double up like that, he is playing that first game at short and is on his feet a lot, and then he has to come out and compete on the mound," Torgalski said. "I hope we can finally get to a Friday, Saturday, Sunday sequence next weekend, where we won't have to double up and worry about that."
Mestas led Buffalo over the weekend with five hits and three RBI. Mautner, Kanzler and Topps each added four hits.
However, the bottom three (7 through 9) hitters struggled throughout the weekend for Buffalo, going hitless in 23 at bats.
The Bulls hope to stay on pace to secure a MAC Tournament berth.
"Rolling right out this year and taking the first three weekends is big for us, and if we continue to do that, we won't have to play into the last weekend and hope we sneak into the back door," Torgalski said.
Buffalo will travel to Eastern Michigan (13-16, 3-5 MAC) next weekend for a three-game series. First pitch is set for noon on Friday.
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Photo: Courtesy of UB Athletics
