University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: April 7, 2005

Baseball

Akron 8, UB 6

Despite a leadoff single in the top of the ninth inning from senior shortstop Joe Mihalics that helped him become the first UB baseball player to reach 200 career hits, the Bulls fell, 8-6, to Akron in both teams' Mid-American Conference opener at Lee Jackson Field on Friday afternoon.

In a game that featured three lead changes and three ties, Akron's Kurt Davidson delivered the big blow in the bottom of the eighth inning by sending a 3-2 pitch down the right field line for a run-scoring double. Davidson eventually scored on a passed ball.

First baseman James Kingsley led the Bulls' offense with a 3-for-4 performance, including a home run, a double and two RBIs. Mihalics, junior designated hitter David Amaro and senior center fielder Phil Vanhorne each had two hits for UB.

The teams were unable to complete the remainder of the series due to inclement weather. The games will not be made up.

Softball

Eastern Michigan 3-0, UB 1-9

UB dropped a 3-1 decision in game one, but then exploded for a 9-0 win in the nightcap to earn a split in a doubleheader at Eastern Michigan. Senior Ann Magur led the Bulls' charge in game two, going 4-for-4 with a double and five RBIs. UB is now 6-20 overall and 2-3 in the MAC.

Junior Lisa Wheat hit a pinch-hit home run to lead off the seventh inning of game one, but EMU pitcher Aimee Woodrum retired the next three batters to preserve the 3-1 win. Wheat's homer, the first of her career, was the Bulls' only hit in the game.

Magur got the Bulls' offense going early in game two with a single to center in the top of the first that scored freshman Laura Kor, who led off the game with a walk. The score remained 1-0 until the Bulls broke things open with a four-hit, five-run fourth inning. Singles by freshman Lacy Schneider and sophomore Colleen Greene followed by back-to-back walks by sophomore Mary Russell and junior Lauren Picciano put the first run of the inning across the plate. Magur then cleared the bases with a double, and senior Melissa Pace followed with a double to score Magur. UB then added three more runs in the sixth inning to put the game further out of reach.

Sophomore pitcher Sophie Barstad pitched the complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out one.

Tennis

MEN'S

Ball State 7, UB 0

UB 4, Northern Illinois 3

A third-set win by junior Matt Kennedy gave UB a 4-3 victory over MAC rival Northern Illinois Saturday afternoon at the Village Glen Tennis Center.

Kennedy scored a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Adam Ford at the fifth singles position to break a 3-3 tie and give the Bulls (6-8, 2-2 MAC) an important conference win. In the deciding set, Kennedy jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Ford then countered for three straight wins to close the gap to 5-4 before Kennedy put the match away, improving his singles record to 13-11 this season.

UB needed four singles wins to take the match. Mike Rockman scored a 6-2, 6-3 win over Erick Martinez at second singles. The win by Rockman was his 24th singles victory this season, tying the sophomore with teammate Nick Zieziula for the most singles victories in a season. Zieziula had 24 singles wins last season.

Other UB singles victories included Yules Hadisubroto at number three and Albert Alant at number six. Hadisubroto knocked off Mark Tate 7-6 (4), 6-4 while Alant breezed past Diego Zegarra-Ballon, 6-2, 6-3.

Alant and Kennedy combined to defeat Martinez and Tate, 8-6, as they moved up to second doubles on Saturday to give the regular number-two team of Rockman and Josh Liederman a chance to stay fresh for difficult singles matches.

The Bulls opened the weekend with a 7-0 loss to Ball State on Friday. UB was unable to post much against a stronger BSU lineup as Zieziula was the only Bull to avoid a straight-sets defeat.

WOMEN'S

Bowling Green 6, UB 1

UB 4, Ball State 3

UB split a weekend road trip, picking up a hard-fought, 4-3, win at Ball State on Saturday after dropping a 6-1 defeat at Bowling Green on Friday. The Bulls are now 6-3 overall and 2-2 in the MAC.

A victory by Miglena Nenova at third singles gave the Bulls the deciding margin against the Cardinals on Saturday. Nenova needed three sets to dispose of Ball State's Haly Calderwood, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. UB also won three additional singles matches. At first singles, Andreea Novaceanu defeated Jenny Batty, 7-5, 6-1. At fourth singles, Katrin Fischer downed Jennifer Pollack, 6-2, 6-2. At sixth singles, Tina Jacob rolled past Katie Owens, 7-5, 6-4.

On Friday, Kristen Ortman became the women's tennis team's winningest singles player at the Division I level, but it wasn't enough as the Bulls dropped a 6-1 decision to Bowling Green at Keefe Courts. It was the first time this spring that the Bulls had been able to play outdoors although the weather wasn't at an optimal level for competition.

Ortman won her match at third singles over Bowling Green's Andrea Volle, 6-2, 6-0. It was Ortman's 38th win of her career to surpass Stacey Gargan (1994-97) and Annulett Dillon (1995-99), who both posted 37 victories in UB's Division I history. She also became UB's winningest doubles player earlier this season and now has 37 doubles triumphs.

The Bulls return home for a pair of MAC contests this week, hosting Northern Illinois tomorrow and Western Michigan on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 3 p.m. starts at the Village Glen Tennis Center in Williamsville.

Outdoor Track and Field

UB women first, men fourth at Ohio Invitational

Through poor weather conditions that included rain, snow and sleet, the UB women raced to the team title of the Ohio Invitational on Saturday. UB's men placed fourth in a meet that featured several MAC foes.

The UB women scored 175 team points to easily outdistance second-place Kent State's 109. MAC schools Toledo (103), Ohio (97) and Marshall (62) finished in the next three spots of the 11-squad field. The UB men scored 89 points to place fourth. The Bulls were third among MAC schools behind host Ohio and Kent State, who tied for first with 151 points. Malone College finished third with 103 points in the nine-team field.

Faith Thompson set two stadium records to post a pair of victories to lead the women's team. Thompson broke the Goldsburry Track at Pruitt Field record in the hammer throw held by UB's Sarah Fletcher in 2002. Thompson breezed to an easy win in the event with a toss of 186-0 (56.70m), more than 26 feet better than the second-place toss of Kent State's Doni Swany (159-3, 48.53m). Thompson also broke the stadium's shot put record with a throw of 47-5.25 (14.46m) to win the event by more than two feet over Kent State's Breann Smith. Thompson has reached the NCAA regional qualifying mark in both events in all three meets this season, setting top marks for both events at the season-opening Seahawk Invitational.

Sarah Vance won the women's discus at 134-2 (40.90m), while Jessica Lister took the pole vault at 10-0 (3.05m). UB's lone win on the track was by Jenny Koeppel in the 1,500-meter run as the senior finished in 4:45.10. In very strong winds and rain, Koeppel took control of the race at the 400-meter mark and ran without much opposition for the remainder of the race. Due to the weather, most times and distances were well below what the Bulls had turned in during the first two meets in North Carolina.

In the men's meet, senior Gary Asbach swept the horizontal jump events. Asbach won the long jump at 22-1.50 (6.74m) and took the triple jump competition at 44-12.50 (14.44m). He also anchored UB's 400-meter relay team to a third-place finish and was the Bulls' top finisher in the 100-meters in 11.76 to place sixth.

The Bulls took a pair of track races in the men's meet. Dan McKenna won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a personal-best 9:27.64, while Todd Joki took the 110-meter hurdles in 15.08. Joki won the hurdles by just one-hundredth of a second over Kent State's Keith Roberts.

UB will travel to Bucknell's Bison Open April 15 and 16.

Crew

Lightweight squad remains undefeated

UB faced off against Northeastern University, Boston College, Dartmouth and MIT on Saturday morning on the Charles River in Boston. Poor weather conditions, including 40-degree temperatures, a driving rain and strong winds, moved the rowing to the 1,400-meter powerhouse stretch of the river, where all races were rowed head-to-head.

UB opened the day with the novice 8 races. Against Boston College, the Bulls rowed to an easy victory, finishing in 5:21.4 to the Eagles' 5:45.7. However, against Dartmouth, the Bulls weren't as fortunate, falling to the Big Green, 5:25.7-5:37.5.

Next up were the varsity 8 races, with UB finishing second to both Boston College and Northeastern. UB was 14 seconds behind the Eagles, 5:13.7-5:27.2, and behind the Huskies by 16 seconds as Northeastern finished the course in 5:25.0 to UB's 5:41.6.

UB's second varsity 8 also competed in head-to-head races with Boston College and Dartmouth, finishing second in both competitions. UB fell by 10 seconds to Boston College (5:30.3-5:40.3) and a mere five seconds to Dartmouth (5:45.46-5:50.29).

UB's lightweight 8 posted victories over the MIT freshman lightweights and a combined team of MIT varsity and novice lightweights. The Bulls won the race over the MIT freshmen by a slim margin of 1.15 seconds, with the MIT combined team third by more than 45 seconds.

On Sunday, conditions were better as the Bulls took three victories and a second-place finish against Rhode Island, MIT and Radcliffe.

UB's second varsity 8 team came away with a win in a head-to-head race against Rhode Island. UB's boat finished in 7:46.32 to Rhode Island's 7:53.18. In the movice 8 race, UB finished first in a three-team race with Rhode Island and MIT. UB won in 7:49.10, easily in front of Rhode Island's 8:04.97 and MIT's 8:21.48. UB's lightweight 8 squad raced a pair of novice entries from Radcliffe (Harvard's women's team), taking first place in 8:06.53 with the Radcliffe A squad second at 8:16.09 and the B squad third in 9:32.13.

This spring, UB's lightweight squad is undefeated in its three races, with wins over Marist, MIT and Radcliffe.

The Bulls also posted a second-place finish in the varsity 8 race, finishing 12 seconds behind Rhode Island. UB turned in a 7:24.58 clocking to the Rams' 7:11.84. MIT was third among the three boats in 7:32.01.