University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: May 13, 2004

Baseball

Pittsburgh 20, UB 5
UB 3-9, Canisius 2-8
Toledo 5, UB 2
UB 5-2, Toledo 4-9

The wind was blowing out at Amherst Audubon Field on May 4 and that spelled trouble for the UB pitching staff. Behind five home runs, Pittsburgh topped the Bulls, 20-5.

Two of the Panthers' five home runs came in the top of the first inning, including a two-run shot by Buffalo native Jim Negrych, to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead. The Bulls answered with a run in the bottom of the second inning on a solo home run by James Kingsley. It was the sophomore first baseman's team-best sixth home run of the season.

P.J. Hiser hit his second home run of the game in the fifth inning to give the Panthers a 7-1 lead. After Pittsburgh scored a run in the top of the sixth inning, David Amaro launched his second home run of the season to make the score 8-2.

Tom Cashman hit a two-run home run to ignite a four-run seventh inning that gave the Panthers a 12-2 lead. After Brian Zelasko singled and Bryan Thrasher doubled, both runners scored when Andrew Wengert's ground ball was thrown away by the Pittsburgh shortstop.

The Panthers erupted for seven runs in the eighth inning to break the game wide open. The key blow was a three-run home run by Mike Zambriczki. The Bulls added a run in the bottom of the eighth on Phil Vanhorne's first home run of the season. Pittsburgh added a run in the top of the ninth inning before cruising to the victory.

Dustin Clark was charged with the loss after allowing three runs over two innings. He was one of five Bulls pitchers used on the afternoon. Pittsburgh starter T.J. Gornati was dominant, allowing two runs and striking out 10 over six innings.

The Bulls came from behind to take both games of a doubleheader against Canisius at home the next day. An RBI double by Zelasko capped a two-run seventh inning that gave the Bulls a 3-2 win in game one. John Boom scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch to break an 8-8 tie and lift the Bulls to a 9-8 victory in game two.

In game one, Canisius jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The lead stood until the bottom of the fourth inning when Chris McGraw launched a solo home run—his third of the season—to cut the lead to 2-1. Neither team scored again until the bottom the seventh inning when Vanhorne tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI single that scored Matt Larson. After Vanhorne stole second base and Steve Legrett drew a walk, Zelasko won the game with a double that sailed over the head of the Canisius rightfielder.

Mark Tourangeau tossed a complete game, allowing two runs on four hits, to pick up the win.

In game two, it was the Bulls' turn to take an early lead. UB scored twice in the top of the first inning following an RBI double by Joe Mihalics and an RBI groundout by Kingsley. McGraw ripped a two-run single in the bottom of the third inning to give the Bulls a 4-0 lead.

After Canisius tallied a run in the top of the fourth inning to cut the UB lead to 4-1, the Golden Griffins erupted for five runs in the top of the fifth inning, capped by a two-run double by Gabe Baida, to take a 6-4 lead. The Bulls got a run back in the bottom of the fifth inning when McGraw scored on a sacrifice fly by Vanhorne to make the score 6-5. Canisius added a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning to take an 8-5 lead. After hitting back-to-back singles, Mihalics and Andrew Wengert both scored on a two-run double by Kingsley to cut the Canisius lead to 8-7. Kingsley scored the game-tying run on an RBI single by Vanhorne.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, UB worked the bases loaded on a single by Boom and consecutive walks by Mihalics and Wengert. Boom crossed the plate for the game-winning run when Canisius pitcher Mike Bax threw a wild pitch.

On Friday, UB dropped the opener of a three-game series with Toledo, 5-2.

Toledo jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning after Jarrod Resendez, who led off the game with a triple, scored on a passed ball. The Rockets added a run in the top of the second inning on a solo home run by Dan Ruth that gave Toledo a 2-0 lead.

Kingsley led off the bottom of the second inning with a double and scored on an RBI single by Aaron Otto to cut the Rockets' lead to 2-1.

An RBI double by Aaron Rouser in the top of the fifth inning extended the Toledo lead to 3-1. UB cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Amaro that scored Mihalics, who, along with Kingsley, had three hits in the game. Toledo added two runs in the top of the eighth inning to hold off the Bulls for the victory.

After a Saturday rainout, the Bulls and Rockets split Sunday's doubleheader as UB won game one, 5-4, while Toledo took game two, 9-2.

UB starting pitcher Eric Kelly had one of his best performances of the season in game one. The freshman hurler allowed four runs on four hits and struck out five over 8.2 innings to pick up his third win of the season.

Toledo got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. The Bulls quickly answered with a run in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI double by McGraw to tie the game, 1-1.

The Rockets took a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning on a two-run single by Chris Arvay. The Bulls cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI double by Mihalics that scored Zelasko. Toledo added a run in the top of the seventh inning to take a 4-2 lead. An RBI single by Thrasher scored Vanhorne to cut the Toledo lead to 4-3 in the seventh inning.

The Bulls pulled ahead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. McGraw doubled home Wengert and a bases-loaded walk by Al Barbato scored Tony Tasner. Clark got Toledo outfielder Sean Dobson to fly out to end the game and pick up his first save of the season.

In game two, the Bulls took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single by Zelasko that scored McGraw. UB scored again in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI single by Wengert to make the score 2-0. After tallying a run in the top of the sixth inning, the Rockets erupted for five runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 6-2 lead. Toledo added three runs in the top of the ninth inning before cruising to the victory.

UB starter Adam Ruszkowski was charged with the loss after allowing five earned runs over six innings.

The Bulls are now 14-31 overall and 4-12 in the MAC.

Softball

UB 5-1, Ball State 0-2
UB 6-1, Toledo 1-0

UB split a doubleheader at Ball State on May 5, taking a 5-0 decision in the opener before falling, 2-1, in the nightcap. Senior Breanne Nasti had four hits on the day and senior Marce Ross hit her second home run of the year to lead the Bulls' offense.

In the opener, the Bulls got on the board with one run in the fourth when Nasti reached on an infield single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Melissa Pace and then scored on a double down the left field line by junior Ann Magur. The Bulls exploded for four runs in the top of the seventh inning to seal the victory, highlighted by a three-run double to left center by Nasti. Nasti was 3-for-4 and senior Dominique Jones was 2-for-3 to combine for five of the Bulls' 10 hits in the game. UB junior Stacey Evans pitched the complete game and allowed just two hits while striking out eight.

The Cardinals struck early in game two, scoring twice on four hits in the bottom of the first inning. Kris Burdine doubled and scored on a single to center by Britni Clark, and another single to center by Kelli Jeziorski scored Mandy Snyder. The Bulls got on the board in the top of the sixth inning when Ross hit a solo home run, her second of the season. Senior Allison Round got on base with a one-out single in the top of the seventh to represent the game-tying run, but she was stranded as BSU pitcher Quincy Duran forced a fly out and a pop out to end the game. Duran allowed six hits and struck out four in the complete-game victory, while Evans went the distance for the Bulls again, allowing seven hits and striking out three.

UB concluded the 2004 season with a doubleheader sweep at Toledo on Saturday, winning game one by a 6-1 score before taking the nightcap by a 1-0 margin as Evans tossed a no-hitter. The Bulls end the season with a 25-23 overall record and an 11-10 mark in the Mid-American Conference.

UB scored two runs in the first inning on a triple by Pace and one run in the second on an RBI-single by Ross to take an early lead in game one. The Bulls then exploded for a three-hit, three-run fourth inning, with Ross and Magur each driving in a run and freshman Mary Russell crossing the plate on a Toledo error. Toledo's only run of the game came in the bottom of the fifth when a single to center by Kate Moxim drove in Erica Singer. Freshman pitcher Sophie Barstad went the distance for the Bulls, allowing just four hits and striking out four.

The only scoring in game two came with one out in the top of the fourth inning when Magur belted her third home run of the season to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead. Evans shut the Rockets down, pitching the first no-hitter of her career and tying her career high with 12 strikeouts.

The Bulls just missed reaching the six-team MAC Tournament when they failed to get the help they needed to reach the postseason. Miami claimed a doubleheader sweep of Northern Illinois on Sunday to pick up the final spot in the tournament. UB needed losses by both Marshall and Miami to make the field. UB's 11-10 MAC record gave them a seventh-place overall finish in the league standings.

Outdoor Track and Field

Bulls prepare for MAC Championships at Akron's Campbell/Wright Open

The men's and women's track-and-field teams finished the regular season with Akron's Campbell/Wright Open meet. There was no team scoring at the meet and the Bulls rested most of their top athletes in preparation for the MAC Championships starting today.

UB scored just one first-place finish as the women's 4x100 medley relay team improved on its top time of the year. The Bulls' foursome of Dana Ventrone, Pauletta Dickerson, Charisse Everett and Stacy Downer crossed the finish line in 47.13 seconds.

Men's hurdler Brian Heim and women's weight thrower Sarah Vance picked up second-place finishes for the Bulls.

Heim raced to a 53.30 second finish in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing just three-hundredths of a second off the top time set by Akron's Jon Morgan. UB's Tom Abbey placed fourth in 54.94. Vance took second in the women's shot put with a toss of 46-4 (14.12m). Ohio State's Amarachi Ukabam easily won the event with a regional qualifying mark of 53-11.25 (16.44m). UB's Beverly Weyer was sixth at 42-2.75 (12.87m). Vance also finished seventh in the hammer throw (162-11, 49.66m) and 12th in the discus (137-1, 41.79m) while Weyer placed sixth in the discus (147-10, 45.05m) and ninth in the hammer (157-4, 47.97m). Both Vance's and Weyer1s discus tosses were season bests.

Downer and Dickerson also put up season-best finishes in the 200-meter dash. Downer took fourth place in 24.77 seconds, while Dickerson finished sixth in 25.04 seconds.

UB assistant coach Ron Andrews won the men's 110-meter hurdles as an unattached entrant in 13.76 seconds.

The Bulls now head for the MAC Outdoor Championships in Oxford, OH. Competition begins today and continues through Saturday. At last season's championship meet, UB's men placed seventh of 11 schools, while the women were ninth in a 13-team field. Women's pole vaulter Laura Olson and men's decathlete Carlos Williams earned individual titles in their events to lead the Bulls.

Crew

Squad finishes season at Metro Cup

All four of UB's entries in the 2004 Metro Cup Championships on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., reached the grand finals in their respective categories. UB finished with a pair of fourth-place finishes (varsity four and second varsity eight), a fifth- (varsity eight) and a sixth-place (novice eight) showing to score 51 points in the team standings. Massachusetts won the Metro Cup for the second consecutive year.