Taking Care of Business

The UB Bulls will roam into Olean, N.Y. today, to face St. Bonaventure in a baseball doubleheader.

When they get there, they will look to play sound, fundamental baseball based on pitching and defense, something they have had trouble doing all season long.

Buffalo comes into the game at just 7-22 overall (1-6 MAC), and will need probable starters Chris McGraw and Sean McWilliams to give them strong outings.

Thanks in part to an offense that has not provided much run support, the duo has struggled as McGraw is 0-4 in four starts with a 7.57 earned run average, and McWilliams has posted a 1-3 record in five starts and has a 5.44 ERA.

"We're looking to get Chris McGraw and Sean McWilliams going, and if they're okay physically, then they'll probably get the starts," said Bulls' head coach Bill Breene.

UB has been kept in most of this season's games by their pitching, with seven of their last 11 games decided by three runs or less, but the Bulls won two of those 11 games. The cause for this, of course, is that UB's poor hitting has not been able to pull through for the pitching in tight games.

UB is hitting just .261 as a team this season and have shown little patience at the plate, drawing just 85 walks in 29 games.

"I think the pitching has done enough for us to stay in every game," said Breene.

The Bonnies will be a challenge for UB, as they boast an 11-12 record overall and are 6-3 in the Atlantic 10 conference.

For his performance last week, St. Bonaventure's third baseman, Matt Marduesz was named A-10 freshman of the week. In four games, he batted a ridiculous .688 with three round-trippers and 13 runs batted in.

If Buffalo can contain Marduesz to human-style numbers, they will still have the rest of the Bonnies to stop. St. Bonaventure has eight batters who are hitting over .300, and another eight players with over 10 RBI's on the season.

While the Bonnies have great hitting, their pitching is nothing to be scoffed at either. Six of St. Bonaventure's pitchers have over 10 strikeouts on the season, and four of them have ERA's lower than 5.00.

Breene says that the Bulls need to focus on executing their fundamentals - mainly defense - in order to win the game.

"I've been preaching to my guys that we take care of our own business," said Breene. "We can't give them any extra baserunners."

The first pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m. today in Olean, N.Y.