University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: April 1, 2004

Baseball

UB 14-10, Canisius 2-5

Playing in a light rain didn't seem to bother UB as it swept a doubleheader from Canisius in the Demske Sports Complex on March 24. James Kingsley ripped two home runs and drove in five runs in a 14-2 win in game one and Phil Vanhorne drove in three runs in game two to help lead UB to a 10-5 victory.

In game one, Joe Mihalics stroked a three-run home run in the top of the first inning to quickly give the Bulls a 3-0 lead. Steve Legrett scored on a wild pitch in the third inning to give the Bulls a 4-0 advantage.

Canisius scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the lead to 4-2. The Bulls answered with three runs in the top of the fifth. Two of the Bulls' runs came on Kingsley's first home run of the game. UB added seven runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 14-2 lead. Vanhorne, Mihalics, Legrett and Chris McGraw each hit RBI doubles and Kingsley followed with a three-run homer.

Dave Brozyna pitched 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball to earn his first win of the season.

The Bulls fell behind, 3-1, in game two, but John Boom and Al Barbato drove in runs in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 3-3. The Bulls then broke the game wide open with a six-run fifth inning. UB got an RBI triple from Andrew Wengert, an RBI single from Dan Quinn and a two-run single from Vanhorne. After the Griffs scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Bulls added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, compliments of a Vanhorne sacrifice fly that scored Boom.

Eric Kelly earned the win in relief after allowing two runs and striking out four over four innings.

With the wins, the Bulls improve to 5-13 on the season. UB will open the Mid-American Conference schedule with a three-game series against Akron Friday through Sunday at Amherst Audubon Field.

Softball

Canisius 4-0, UB 1-3
UB 2-4, Miami (OH) 1-6
Miami (OH) 1, UB 0

UB split a doubleheader at Canisius College on March 25, losing the first game by a 4-1 score before shutting out the Griffs in the nightcap, 3-0.

In the opener, the Griffs scored two runs in the third on an RBI-single by Caitlin Lever and a bases-loaded walk, and then added two more in the fifth, on a solo home run by Beth Enk and an RBI-single by Ashley Gonnello.

UB got on the board in the top of the sixth to spoil the shutout. Three consecutive singles loaded the bases and senior Breanne Nasti then scored on a fielding error by Mandy Luukinen on a grounder by freshman Mary Russell. Nasti was 4-for-4 from the plate in the game to lead the Bulls' offense.

Canisius pitcher Andrea Bunten struck out nine and allowed 11 hits in the win, while freshman Sophie Barstad took the loss, striking out five and allowing nine hits in the complete game.

In the nightcap, the Bulls put two runs across the plate in the fourth inning thanks to a bases-loaded double by Barstad, and added a single run in the fifth on a single up the middle by senior Allison Round that drove in freshman Colleen Greene.

Junior Stacey Evans pitched a one-hitter and struck out 11 in the complete-game victory. Canisius starter Lindsay Garbacz suffered the loss, allowing four hits and two earned runs and striking out six in five innings of work.

UB opened the MAC portion of the 2004 schedule with a doubleheader split at Miami (OH) on Saturday. The Bulls scored a 2-1 win in game one before falling to the RedHawks in the nightcap by a 6-4 score.

A sacrifice bunt by Nasti drove in senior Marce Ross with the first run of the opening game in the third inning. Miami tied the score in the fifth, putting a run across the plate thanks to a Bulls' error on a bases-loaded grounder by Jamie Carey. Nasti led off the top of the sixth with a double and came around to score the game-winning run on a two-out double to right center by pinch hitter Shannon Prochaska.

Evans earned the win on the mound for the Bulls, allowing just four hits and no earned runs and striking out six in the complete game. Miami's Jackie Poggendorf suffered the loss, allowing five hits and one earned run while striking out three in 5.2 innings of work.

The Bulls got on the board first in game two with Greene hitting a leadoff single in the second inning and eventually scoring on a Miami error.

The RedHawks broke things open in the bottom of the third with a grand slam by Poggendorf, and added two more insurance runs in the fourth on RBI-singles by Carey and Jessica Zogaib.

Greene drove in two runs in the top of the fifth with a two-out single to left center, and Nasti hit a leadoff home run in the top of the seventh to account for the Bulls' other three runs.

Heather Freudenberger got credit with the win for the RedHawks, pitching the first five innings and allowing five hits and two earned runs, and Courtney Salmon earned the save, pitching the final two innings and allowing two hits and one earned run. Sophomore Theresa Gugger took the loss for the Bulls, allowing six hits and six earned runs and striking out two in the complete game.

On Sunday, the Bulls dropped a 1-0 decision to the RedHawks in the series finale. Two Miami pitchers combined for the four-hit shutout that dropped the Bulls1 record to 10-14 overall and 1-2 in the MAC.

Miami scored the lone run of the game in the third inning with Becca Garcia crossing the plate when Poggendorf reached on a Bulls' error. Garcia had reached on a double to left field and advanced to third when Zogaib was thrown out at home attempting to score.

Evans went the distance for the Bulls, allowing just four hits and no earned runs and striking out three.

The Bulls are next in action for their home opener at Nan Harvey Field on Saturday, a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Kent State. The three-game series with the Golden Flashes will conclude with a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Outdoor Track and Field

Esler sets decathlon record at Florida Relays; Laske, Olson qualify regionals at Raleigh Relays

Senior Steve Esler broke the school decathlon record with his victory at the Florida Relays, which concluded on March 25. Esler established the mark with a total of 7,019 points in the 10-event competition. The total shattered the previous existing mark of 6,662 points set by Matt Streng in 1999.

Although Esler only won one event of the 10, he placed second in five others to claim the overall title. North Carolina's Brad Bailey finished second overall at 6,611 points. Esler's point total also provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June. Esler won the high jump competition with a leap of 6-8 (2.03m), just an inch shy of his own school record in the event. He also placed second in the long jump (21-8.25, 6.61m), shot put (43-11.75, 13.40m), 110 hurdles (15.44), discus (127-3, 38.80m) and the 1,500-meter run (4:32.84).

Teammate Carlos Williams placed 11th overall among 13 entrants in the meet at 5,331 points. Williams won the long jump portion of the decathlon at 21-10.75 (6.67m) and took three third-place finishes-in the shot put (43-4.25, 13.21m), 400-meter run (50.48) and the javelin (173-8, 52.94m).

Meagan Rogers placed 10th of 11 entrants in the women's heptathlon with 4,132 points. She had a pair of fourth-place finishes in the 100 hurdles (14.97) and shot put (39-5, 12.01m) for her best marks in the seven-event competition.

The Bulls also sent a full contingent of athletes to the 2004 Adidas Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State University. The event consistently fields the best competition from across the east.

Two UB women athletes earned NCAA East Regional berths for the postseason with their performances in Raleigh. Middle distance runner Allison Laske broke the school record en route to a third-place finish in the 800-meter run. Laske finished in 2:09.63 to shave nearly a half-second off Udo Okeke's 2000 mark of 2:10.01. The time also earned Laske a spot in this May's East Regionals in Gainesville, Fla.

Laura Olson earned a regional spot in her first action of the outdoor season. Olson finished second in the pole vault with a height of 12-9.50 (3.90m) behind only Akron's Kira Sims (13-5.25, 4.10m). Both Olson and Sims participated at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier in the month.

A new school record was also set by UB's 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team. The foursome finished in 3:54.64, breaking last season's 3:56.73.

For the UB men, freshman Rayshon Higgins took eighth place in the triple jump at 49-0.75 (14.95m). Dan Simpson placed 13th in the pole vault at 15-7 (4.75m). Dan McKenna took 19th in the 5,000-meter run in 3:57.28 while Steve Strelick was 17th in the unseeded flight of the 5,000-meters in 4:04.29.

Four UB relay teams also placed within the top 20, led by the 12th-place finish by the 4x800 foursome in 7:27.10.

Tennis

WOMEN'S

Northern Illinois 4, UB 3
Western Michigan 7, UB 0

UB dropped both of its MAC road matches over the weekend. On Friday, the Bulls opened with a tough 4-3 loss to Northern Illinois in Rockford, and then were shut out on Saturday, 7-0, at Western Michigan. The Bulls are now 7-6 overall and 0-4 in the MAC.

Against the Huskies, the match started with Northern Illinois sweeping the doubles competition to secure the first point. At number one, UB's Miglena Nenova and Kristen Ortman fell to Branka Savic and Ivonne Andrade, 8-4. At number two, Michelle Kollarova and Katrin Fischer were defeated by Cassie Drake and Karrie Tyioran, 8-1. UB's number three duo of Lisa Wittman and Sheri Ugowski fell to Kristi McIntyre and Megan Brooks, 8-3.

The teams split the six singles matches down the middle with each winning three, but because NIU picked up the doubles point, the Huskies were able to escape with the win. UB picked up singles wins at the top two slots. Nenova had to win a third-set tiebreaker to defeat Drake. Nenova won the first set, 6-3, but lost the second 4-6 to force the ten-point tiebreaker, winning 10-6 to get the Bulls on the scoreboard. Ortman won a straight-sets victory over Savic, 6-0, 6-2.

Northern Illinois took a 3-2 match lead with victories at third and fourth singles. But UB rallied to tie the match at 3-3 with a come-from-behind win by Kollarova at number five. Kollarova dropped the first set to McIntyre, 6-2, but then won the final two sets, 6-4, 6-2, to notch her 10th singles win of the year.

The match came down to the number six tilt between UB's Onessa Williams and NIU's Dani Martinez, neither of whom saw action in the earlier doubles action. Unfortunately, UB's hopes of a key road win were dashed as Williams fell in straight sets to Martinez, 6-3, 6-1.

Against a powerful Western Michigan squad, the Bulls were unable to win a set. UB fell in all six singles matches, including Nenova suffering her first dual-meet loss as she fell to Frederika Girsang, 6-4, 6-2, breaking a string of 12 straight dual-meet wins, including eight at the top of the ladder.

The Bulls will host MAC leader Marshall on Friday and Miami (OH) on Saturday. Both matches are slated for 1 p.m.

Crew

Bulls win five of eight races at Ithaca

UB dropped its boats into the water for the first time this spring as the Bulls met host Ithaca College and Marist College in a tri-meet on Cayuga Lake. Although the weather wasn't very favorable to the teams with temperatures in the mid-40s, overcast skies and consistent headwind, UB crews managed to win five of eight races.

Both of UB's novice eight entries were victorious. The first novice eight squad finished in 7:33.3, 15 seconds ahead of second-place Marist. The second novice eight team won by just two seconds (8:09) over Ithaca (8:11).

Another eight-rower shell also took a first-place finish as the lightweight eight team, which consisted of a mixture of varsity and novice rowers, won a head-to-head race against Ithaca. UB finished in 7:44, while the Bombers clocked 7:52.

Also taking first place were two of UB's three varsity four entries. The varsity four races were classified as A, B, and C. UB won the A race, crossing the finish line in 8:05, 20 seconds ahead of Ithaca. The C entry also won its race in 8:36.3 to Ithaca's 8:53.0. UB's B entry finished second to Ithaca by nine seconds (8:21-8:30).