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Sports Recap
Byron McKinney of the men's track-and-field team won the shot put at the Alabama Relays on Sunday with a record-breaking throw of 55-9.75 (17.01m) and qualified for NCAA regional competition. The mark bettered the school record of 55-9 (16.99m) that McKinney shared with Joe Loiacono from last season. McKinney also placed sixth in the hammer throw at 161-1 (49.10m) at the first outdoor meet of the season.
Stacey Evans of the women's softball team scattered four hits over seven shutout innings in UB's 3-0 victory over Marshall on Sunday. Evans also threw a complete game in a 10-inning, 3-2 loss to the Herd in Saturday's opener. For the two games, she allowed just two earned runs and struck out eight. Evans leads the UB pitching staff with five victories, a 1.33 ERA and 63 strikeouts.
Baseball
Bowling Green 3, UB 1
Bowling Green 15, UB 4
UB dropped its conference opener, 3-1, to Bowling Green on Saturday afternoon at Warren Steller Field.
The Bulls got a solid pitching performance from senior Tyler Balentine, who went the distance allowing three runs and striking out a career-high eight batters. The Bulls outhit the Falcons, 8-6. However, they were unable to capitalize, leaving 10 runners on base.
UB opened the scoring in the fifth inning as a sacrifice fly by Phil Vanhorne drove in Andrew Wengert. Bowling Green scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to take a 2-1 lead. Falcon outfielder David Barkholz added some insurance in the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run. The Bulls had the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning, but couldn't take advantage.
Wengert and Kevin Nesteruk led UB's offensive attack with three hits apiece.
On Sunday, the Bulls (3-12, 0-2) dropped a 15-4 decision to the Falcons. Bowling Green scored twice in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Bulls answered in the top of the third as an Adrian Daniels RBI single and a Bryan Sanchez RBI groundout tied the contest at 2-2. The Falcons came back to score three times in the bottom of the fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Bobby Majer.
The Bulls got one run back in the top of the fifth inning when Daniels drove in his second run of the game on a single that scored Vanhorne to make it 5-3. However, Bowling Green erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning—ignited by a two-run home run off the bat of 2002 MAC Player of the Year Kelly Hunt.
Bowling Green added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score 12-3. Daniels scored on a passed ball in the top of the seventh to cut the lead to 12-4. However, the Bulls could get no closer as the Falcons scored three more times in the bottom of the seventh before cruising to the victory.
Daniels finished 2-for-2 with three walks and two RBIs to lead UB. Vanhorne also collected two hits and scored twice for the Bulls.
Nick Bellecose got the start for the Bulls and allowed three earned runs on three hits over four innings. The junior hurler dropped to 0-2 on the season.
The Bulls will travel to Akron for a four-game MAC series with the Zips starting on Friday.
Softball
Marshall 3-6, UB 2-0 (first game 10 innings)
UB 3, Marshall 0
UB dropped both games of a doubleheader to Marshall on Saturday afternoon at Dot Hicks Field. The first game went extra innings as the Thundering Herd slipped away with a 3-2 victory in 10 innings. Marshall took the nightcap, 6-0.
The Bulls got off to a promising start in the opening game by scoring two runs in the top of the third inning. A fielder's choice by Jessica Kensy scored Breanne Nasti and Ann Magur. Marshall got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Sara Spenia. De'Shaun Drake hit an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the contest, 2-2, and send the game to extra innings. The Thundering Herd scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning when Sarah Wilson crossed the plate on a UB error.
Stacey Evans went the distance for the Bulls, allowing two earned runs and striking out six.
Marshall pitchers silenced the Bulls' bats in game two, holding UB to three hits en route to a 6-0 victory. The Thundering Herd scored once in the first inning and never looked back, exploding for five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to seal the victory. The big blow was a three-run home run by Wilson.
It was a tough outing for UB's Heather Robbins, who was charged with all six Marshall runs. Andrea Sage came on in relief and pitched 1 2/3 innings of perfect ball.
In the last game of the series on Sunday, Evans held Marshall to four hits en route to a complete game, 3-0, shutout of the Herd. It was the first conference win of the season for the Bulls.
UB wasted little time getting on the board, scoring twice in the top of the first inning. Kelly Malone laced a double that scored Magur and Nasti to give UB a 2-0 lead. Evans helped her own cause in the fifth inning with an RBI single that scored Allison Round to give the Bulls a 3-0 advantage.
That was all Evans needed as the sophomore hurler struck out two and walked four to earn her fifth victory of the season.
Magur led the Bulls' seven-hit attack with a 2-for-4 performance, including her fourth double of the season.
With the win, UB improves to 7-10 overall and 1-2 in the MAC. The victory marks the first time UB has defeated Marshall and the earliest MAC victory ever for the Bulls. UB started the 2001 season 0-9 in the conference and the 2002 season 0-7 in the MAC.
Tennis
MEN'S
Western Michigan 6, UB 1
UB 7, Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne 0
UB 6, Bucknell 1
The Bulls went 2-1 for the week and established a couple of milestones along the way en route to an 11-7 overall record and a 1-1 mark in league play. UB opened MAC play with a 6-1 loss at Western Michigan on March 18. Nick Zieziula picked up the lone UB victory—a 6-3, 6-3 win over Erik Lindroos. The Bulls returned home on March 20 and earned the first league win in school history—a 7-0 defeat of Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne. UB did not drop a set as the Bulls easily put away the Mastodons. The Bulls ended the week with a 6-1 win over Bucknell to give head coach Russ Crispell his 100th victory. Josh Liederman picked up a thrilling three-set win over Joe Menezes, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3, to pace the team.
Outdoor track and field
Season opens with impressive results at Alabama Relays
With the arrival of spring in many parts of the country, the men's and women's track teams opened the outdoor season in the Alabama Relays at Sam Bailey Track in Tuscaloosa, AL. Although the meet consisted of several events, only the relays were scored. The UB women tied for 10th in a 23-team field with 14 points, while the men scored their lone relay team, placing 20 of 24 with five points.
The top result posted by the Bulls in Saturday's competition was by senior thrower Keith Gentes, who sat out the 2001-02 as a redshirt, returned to outdoor action with a victory in the hammer throw. Gentes' toss of 172-0 (52.42m) was nearly 4 feet better than the second- and third-place finishes of throwers from Mississippi and Louisville. Joining Gentes near the top of the hammer results was senior Byron McKinney, who placed sixth at 161-1 (49.10m).
Women's multi-event competitor Meagan Rogers opened the outdoor season with a record-setting performance in the heptathlon. Rogers bettered her school-record point total in the seven-event competition with 4,832 points to eclipse the total of 4,793 set at the 2002 MAC Championships. Rogers solidified her record by winning the competition's final event, the 800 meters, in 2:22.82. She also finished third in the heptathlon shot put at 39-8.50 (12.10m).
Other top UB men's results included freshman Todd Joki taking second in the 400 hurdles in 54.15. He also finished ninth in long jump at (6.87m). Fourth-place finishes were turned in by distance runner Rick Stewart in the 5000 meters in 14:46.06 and pole vaulter Dan Simpson at 14-7.25 (4.45m).
The UB women were paced in the 200 meter dash by Jennelle Callender taking fifth in 24.72 and Biaunca McFarland placing seventh in 24.88. Allison Laske finished seventh in the 800 meters in 2:13.30 with Mindy Gorniak racing to a 12th-place finish in 2:15.88.
In the throws, junior Faith Thompson was eighth in the shot put at 43-0.50 (13.12m), while sophomore Beverly Weyer finished ninth in discus at 139-3 (42.45m). Christina DeSantis placed sixth in the collegiate pole vault at 10-0.50 (3.06m).
Three records were set on Sunday, two individually and one relay mark. McKinney established a new mark by winning the shot put with a toss of 55-9.75 (17.01m). The throw improved the record that he shared from last season with Joe Loiacono by three-quarters of an inch. McKinney qualified for NCAA regional competition later in the year with the throw and won the event by more than 2 feet over the second-place finisher.
Laura Olson tied for second place in the invitational pole vault with a new school-record height of 12-6 (3.81m) to better last season's record by nearly a foot. The pole vault competition at the meet consisted of two divisions, the collegiate, held on Saturday, and the invitational, on Sunday. McFarland turned in a third-place finish in the triple jump at 40-7 (12.37m), while Thompson finished third in the hammer throw at 157-3 (47.93m). Olson and McFarland also qualified for the NCAA regionals with their performances on Sunday.
The women also set a new record in the sprint medley relay, an event usually run only at large-scale relay meets. The foursome of Callender, Krystal Seiling, Gorniak and Laske turned in a 4:00.47 clocking to shave nearly two seconds off the old record set in 2000 and finish second in the race. The men's sprint medley relay team of Gary Asbach, Joki, Joe Clark and Pete Zaccariello missed a school record with their 3:28.25 mark, just .14 seconds shy of the record set last season, and finished fourth.
The women's team of Callender, Seiling, Gorniak and McFarland also turned in a third-place finish in the 4x400 relay with a 3:49.00 showing.
The squads will head to the Raleigh Relays, hosted by North Carolina State University, this weekend.