"Errors, subpar offense lead to series loss against Central Michigan"

In what was mostly a weekend the baseball team would like to forget, there was one moment that will go down in team history.

After Central Michigan (19-12, 8-1 Mid-American Conference) swept the Bulls (13-12, 4-4 MAC) in a doubleheader Saturday, resulting in Buffalo's first loss in a regular season conference series since May 2012, Buffalo turned to senior pitcher/shortstop and staff ace Mike Burke on Sunday.

Burke turned in an outstanding performance, hurling a complete game while allowing two earned runs and striking out five to improve his record to 4-2 with the 11-3 win. It was Burke's 18th career win, which sets the mark for the most in program history.

The Bulls' offense also turned in its best performance of the weekend on Sunday.

After struggling in both games Saturday, UB's bats finally came alive. Senior outfielder Thomas Richards had three RBIs in the first three innings while freshman outfielder Vinny Mallaro contributed an RBI single in the bottom of the third to increase the lead to 4-0. The Bulls did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.

Sophomore first baseman Tyler Mautner, who had a monster game at the plate with four hits and four RBIs, provided insurance runs.

"We had big two-out hits and had great at bats at the plate all day," said head coach Ron Torgalski. "Once our middle of the order starts to heat up, I believe we can be a destructive force at the plate."

The weekend started with two losses due to shoddy play in the field and a poor offensive output down the stretch.

In the first game, the Bulls took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning with an RBI single by Richards. Later in the inning, sophomore catcher Kyle Brennan launched a two-run home run to left-center field.

From that point on, the team was completely shut down by the Chippewa pitching staff, which didn't allow a hit for the rest of the game.

Errors have plagued Buffalo all season and it showed during the bottom of the eighth inning, when Brennan overthrew second base, which allowed the runner on third to advance home and increase the lead for Central Michigan.

"Offensively, we were going against a guy who is probably going to be a second or third rounder next year," said head coach Ron Torgalski. "When a guy is hitting 93 on the clock, we know that's a guy who can take over a game, which is exactly what he did."

Senior pitcher Kevin Hughes kept the Bulls in the game, going six innings while giving up four runs. It was not enough to secure the win, however, as the Bulls lost 6-3 and his record slipped to 1-4.

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Bulls lost 6-5 due to mental mistakes that put them into a seemingly inescapable rut.

Going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the team trailed 3-1 with the middle of the order coming up. The heavy hitters responded accordingly.

Mautner hit a two-run home run to tie the game at 3. Two batters later, Richards launched another two-run home run to right field to take a two-run lead. Like the previous game, however, errors led to a disastrous bottom of the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Bulls were leading 5-3 before junior pitcher Anthony Magovney and freshman pitcher Alex Kaelin combined to allow one hit and three unearned runs.

A throwing error by freshman infielder Brian Dudek allowed two unearned runs to score, while another run scored after a fielding error by Burke, which cost Buffalo the lead.

"Errors killed us all game," Torgalski said. "Every time we made an error, we put a guy into scoring position and gave [Central Michigan] a free run."

With the Bulls in the midst of seeking a MAC championship, their play of late has not been up to the standard Torgalski expects. Buffalo started the season winning seven of its first nine games, but the squad has won just five of its last 15 games.

"We haven't played good baseball," Torgalski said. "We have to be able to hit, pitch and field well to get momentum going, but we're not capitalizing on our good performances."

The Bulls look to put the series loss behind them and build off their win Sunday when they host Western Michigan (13-14, 4-5 MAC) next weekend. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m.

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