Cross Town Clash

Cross town rival Canisius College visits the confines of UB Softball Stadium this afternoon for a doubleheader that will showcase two of the top pitchers in the Western New York area.

The Bulls bring an 11-14 overall (3-6 Mid-American Conference) record up against the Canisius Golden Griffins. Canisius is 11-17 overall and 3-3 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Canisius is coming off a sweep of Manhattan College behind solid pitching by sophomore Andrea Bunten. During that doubleheader, the Griffs pitching staff only allowed three hits and struck out 20. The Bulls will need to have their bats ready and will have to take advantage of every opportunity they get when they are on base.

The Bulls have gotten their bats going as of late, and that is helping the team gel as well as strengthen the confidence of individual players.

"We hit the ball well, even the girls who didn't get hits had really good at bats," said UB Head Coach Marie Curran. "The composure of the team is much different than it was a week ago at batting practice."

One player who has turned around her season is junior Marce Ross. The second baseman has hit .524 in her last seven games including four runs scored and three runs batted in. Curran is hoping the rest of her team will take note of Marce's play and improve theirs as well.

"We just want her to keep swinging and keep focusing on the ball," Curran said. "She has been doing a great job not thinking about hitting and she is just trusting her athletic ability and playing softball."

Breanne Nasti is continuing her solid hitting as she leads the team in doubles with six, while Ann Magur is right behind her with five doubles on the season. Julie Hibner is also contributing at the plate as she has seven RBI, one behind team-leading Jessica Kensey, who has eight.

This will not be a walk in the park for the Bulls as the Golden Griffins have been the dominant softball team in WNY for the last few years. Last year, Canisius earned a trip to the NCAA tournament after winning the MAAC Championship.

"Over a long history they have definitely been the dominant Division-I team in Western New York," said Curran.

Curran said she expects more competition from other teams in the area.

"I think they are going to start getting a lot more competition from us as well as St. Bonaventure."

To give Canisius some competition, the Bulls are going to need to rattle the pitching staff that is led by Bunten. Bunten is 6-8 on the season and also has one save on the year.

"Our goal is definitely to come out aggressive in the first inning against her and put a little scare into them right away," said Curran.

Curran said she is optimistic that her team will be able to get on base and put the ball in play against Bunten.

"We faced her in the fall and hit her pretty well," said Curran.

Stacey Evans and Andrea Sage will be the probable starters for tomorrow's doubleheader. Evans has been UB's dominant pitcher for the season in which she has compiled a 7-8 record with 97 strikeouts. Sage is only 2-2 on the year, but is starting to gain the confidence necessary to be a solid number two starter for the Bulls.

"Andrea's ball is moving all over the place and we are real excited about that," said Curran.

What does not seem to bother the Bulls is the idea of trailing in the late innings. Twice they came back from deficits to defeat Ohio University in the late innings and they believe that they can come from behind in any inning.

"We stay nice and relaxed and believe we can get it done every inning," said Curran.

Next for the comeback kids after today's doubleheader is a series at defending MAC champion Central Michigan that starts Friday at 3:30 p.m.