University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: May 1, 2003

Baseball

UB 19-11, Canisius 1-7
UB 17, Niagara 14
Pittsburgh 4, UB 0
UB 7, Pittsburgh 4

The Bulls snapped a six-game losing streak in a big way by sweeping a doubleheader from Canisius on April 23 at Amherst Audubon Field.

The Bulls won game one, 19-1, and took the nightcap, 11-7.

In game one, Buffalo scored a season-high 19 runs. Joe Mihalics was 3-for-5 with a triple and drove in a team-high five runs. Phil Vanhorne and Clint McKeever each drove in four runs. In the sixth inning, Bryan Sanchez launched his fifth home run of the season. Kyle Swiatocha got his first career start on the mound for the Bulls and made the best of it. The senior hurler tossed a complete game and allowed one run on six hits and struck out a career-best five.

Canisius got off to a good start in game two, as it put three runs on the board in the top of the first inning. However, the Bulls quickly answered with four runs in the bottom of the first. The Bulls' hot hitting continued in the bottom of the second inning as they put a five spot on the board. The Bulls got RBI singles from Brandon DiCesare, Jordan Alcott and Andrew Wengert and a two-run double by Adrian Daniels.

The onslaught continued the next day as UB scored at least one run in every offensive inning and pounded out a season-high 23 hits en route to a 17-14 victory over Niagara. Every batter in the UB lineup collected at least one hit and all but one Buffalo hitter had at least one RBI.

The bats cooled, briefly, with a 4-0 loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday night. Despite the loss, the Bulls got a solid pitching performance from starter

Nick Bellacose, who didn't allowed an earned run and gave up only three hits over five innings.

A five-run fifth inning helped UB (12-26) get past Pittsburgh (30-13), 7-4, in the final game of the series on Sunday afternoon at Trees Field.

The Bulls have won four out of their last five games and will face Ohio in a weekend series at Amherst Audubon Field, beginning tomorrow.

Softball

UB 5, Niagara 1
Miami 4, UB 0
UB 1-3, Miami 0-2

UB ended Miami's nine-game winning streak by sweeping a doubleheader from the visiting RedHawks on Saturday afternoon. The Bulls earned a 1-0 win in game one and then held on for a 3-2 win in game two to improve to 17-17 overall and 6-9 in the Mid-American Conference.

Junior Breanne Nasti led the UB offense with three hits, one run scored and one RBI on the afternoon while extending her current hitting streak to 10 games.

The RedHawks took a 4-0 decision from the Bulls in the series opener on Friday night, doing all of their damage in the fifth inning with a two-out rally, highlighted by a three-run home run by Chelsie McWhorter.

Earlier in the week, the Bulls earned their third win of the season over local rival Niagara University on April 23 by a 5-1 score. As a team, the Bulls stole a UB single-game record six bases in the win, including three by junior Marce Ross. Ross' three steals also are a school single-game record. She has a team-high seven stolen bases on the season and 15 career stolen bases, tied for fifth all-time at UB.

Outdoor Track and Field

Two champions and five records set at Penn Relays

UB posted five new school records and picked up a pair of victories at the annual Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

UB senior Biaunca McFarland won the women's Eastern triple jump for the second time in the past three years. McFarland took the event with a jump of 40-11.50 (12.48m). The school-record holder in the event, McFarland won the same event in the 2001 Penn Relays at 40-2 (12.24m).

The UB women also posted a victory with a record-setting performance in the ECAC 4x800 relay championships on Saturday. The foursome of Christina Keck, Allison Laske, Jen Jezorski and Kate Kohout turned in a time of 8:51.81, slicing more than 10 seconds off the previous record set in 2000.

Two other women's relay teams also set records. The 4x400 squad also broke a school record in the event's preliminary heats. The foursome of Jenelle Callender, Keck, Krystal Seiling and McFarland turned in a 3:46.60 clocking to break the previous mark by two seconds and move into the championship round. The team then finished eighth in the finals on Saturday with a time of 3:48.40. The 4x200 team of Callender, Pauletta Dickerson, Seiling and McFarland posted a 1:39.40 showing to finish fourth in its heat and 25th overall to break the mark set by the same foursome in March.

Women's pole vaulter Laura Olson again shattered her own mark in the event, placing second overall with a vault of 13-1.50 (4.00m). It was the fourth time this season that Olson had bettered her own record.

Men's distance specialist Jerimie Slick blazed to a new record in the 5,000-meter run. Slick sliced nearly 20 seconds off of teammate Todd Ludden's mark of 2002 with his time of 14:14.54. It also qualified Slick for the NCAA Regional meet later this season.

Tennis

MEN'S

Toledo 4, UB 0 (MAC Tournament)

UB was defeated, 4-0, by Toledo on April 24 in the first round of the MAC Championships in DeKalb, Ill. With the loss, the Bulls conclude the season at 12-12 overall.

UB's number three doubles team of Josh Liederman and Rangga Prayudha won its match, 8-3, for the Bulls' lone win.

Three matches were still in progress when play was halted due to Toledo's clinching of the victory.

WOMEN'S

Ball State 4, UB 0 (MAC Tournament)

UB was eliminated from the MAC Women's Tennis Championship on April 24 with a 4-0 loss to Ball State at Ypsilanti's Chippewa Club. The loss ends the Bulls' season at 6-14 overall.

Ball State earned the doubles point with two victories in the three matches. UB was eliminated once Ball State won three singles matches.

Awards

Three Bulls Named Arthur Ashe Sports Scholars

Three UB student-athletes were named Arthur Ashe Jr. Scholars by Black Issues in Higher Education magazine. Men's swimmer Aviv Oren and women's swimmer Jolie Pun were named to the first team for their respective sports, while Turner Battle was a second-team basketball honoree.

Oren, a sophomore biotechnology major, has a 3.46 cumulative grade point average. He became the Bulls' first MAC champion in men's swimming since 1999 with his thrilling victory in the 100 breaststroke at the 2003 MAC Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. Oren was named to the MAC's 2003 men's swimming and diving Academic All-MAC team earlier this year.

Pun, a senior chemistry major, has a 3.97 cumulative GPA. She was part of UB's 800 free relay team which set a school record in 7:38.98 for a fifth-place finish at the 2003 MAC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships. Pun also was named to the MAC's 2003 women's swimming and diving Academic All-MAC team.

Battle, a sophomore communications major, has a 3.46 cumulative GPA. He led the Bulls in scoring (12.7 ppg), assists (4.5 apg) and steals (1.9 spg) during the 2002-03 season en route to earning All-MAC Honorable Mention honors. Battle was the only player in the conference to be named to both the All-MAC and Academic All-MAC squads.

The Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars program, named for the late tennis legend, was started 11 years ago by Black Issues to honor "outstanding student-athletes of color from the nation's colleges and universities." Each awardee must have had a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20, been an active member of an intercollegiate athletics team in 2002-03 and have demonstrated a record of service to his/her university or community.