As gusty winds carried the ball all over the place at Amherst Audubon Field during the consolation game of the Big 4 Classic, it was the Bulls baseball team that blew the record books wide open.
Buffalo broke or tied several school records on the way to a 27-12 blowout win to clinch a third-place finish in the tourney. The Bulls set the tournament record and tied the all-time team high for runs. They also eclipsed the school record for hits with 29, doubles with seven, and total bases in the game. The 39 runs scored combined easily broke the previous record for a Big 4 Classic of 21.
"They just did everything right today," said Bill Breene, who won his 100th game as Buffalo head coach. "We haven't blown up like this in three or four years. It's exciting to be on the winning side of something like this. It's a hell of a lot better than being on the other end of it."
The game also provided an opportunity for several Buffalo players to cement themselves in the individual school record book.
Freshman third baseman Jacob Rosenbeck tied the school record with five hits, freshman left fielder Eric Flynn tied the school record with five runs scored, and junior pitcher Adam Ruszkowski set the school record for career wins since the baseball program was reinstated in 2000.
"From a coaching perspective, I was real proud of them," Breene said. "Everybody in the starting nine had hits. Today everything went right, and it was just one of those games."
Oddly, the record-setting day for the Bulls started off with Niagara on the scoreboard first. After the first two Purple Eagle batters were retired in order, senior shortstop Andrew MacNevin blasted a home run over the centerfield fence.
Buffalo answered quickly. The Bulls responded with a five-run inning highlighted by a home run off the bat of freshman shortstop Brad Agustin. After the leadoff hitter Flynn singled, Agustin sent a ball soaring over the left field wall to give the Bulls a 2-1 lead. After a Mike Folli single to left brought senior first-baseman James Kingsley across the plate, a two-run double by Rosenbeck gave the Bulls their fourth and fifth runs of the inning.
"That's the most hits I've had since I've been here," said Rosenbeck, who had five hits on the afternoon. "I just tried to hit the ball hard. The wind was blowing out today and we knew coming in there was going to be a lot of runs scored. One person started hitting. We all just followed suit."
The Bulls offensive explosion continued, and the team led 9-2 after just two innings, but Niagara scored four runs in the third to cut the lead to 9-6.
Buffalo pushed its lead up to 12-6 with three more runs in the bottom of the third, but failed to score in the next two innings.
The Purple Eagles chipped away at the lead again with a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth. The Niagara rally again brought the Purple Eagles within three runs at 12-9.
In the sixth and seventh innings however, the Bulls were able to put the game away for good. Buffalo exploded for 15 runs in the two innings, nine in the sixth, and six in the seventh.
Ordinarily, leading 21-9 in the seventh inning, it would have been easy for the Bulls to have taken on a carefree attitude and let up a bit at the plate. However this was no ordinary game, and Buffalo tacked on another six runs of insurance in the seventh.
Niagara scored three more runs in its final trip to the plate but the game's outcome had already been decided.
"I told them we need to win this," Breene said. "We're just happy to get wins. I told them early on, this is going to be a high-scoring game, but we'll take wins scoring 27 runs or scoring just one run."
Twelve batters recorded a hit including all nine starters for the Bulls. In fact, all but one Buffalo starter had multiple hits on the afternoon. Although Folli and Agustin were the only Bulls with home runs on the day, senior centerfielder Carl Aquila chipped in with three hits, three runs, and four RBIs and Kingsley added three hits to go along with four runs, and three RBIs. Junior designated hitter Dan Quinn and freshman right fielder James Piazza each had two RBIs and two runs scored.
"Until the next time we play Niagara, we're going to have the upper hand in the verbal warfare," Breene said. "It's big. They know these guys and love to yap at each other. This is our third consecutive consolation win. Maybe next year we come in and win it all, or at least get to the championship game."
The Bulls will be hard-pressed to match Wednesday's offensive output, but will look to build on the blowout win when they return to conference play this weekend for a three-game series at Akron. Game one is set for Friday at 3 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
