University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: April 28, 2005

Baseball

St. Bonaventure 6, UB 1 (6)
UB 8, Ohio 8 (12)

After 30 games on the road, UB did not have the type of homecoming it had expected after a week of beautiful weather in Western New York. The Bulls were greeted with a steady, drizzling rain that wiped out the final inning of the first game of what was supposed to be a doubleheader against St. Bonaventure on April 20 at Amherst Audubon Field. UB fell to the Bonnies, 6-1, in six innings.

UB got another solid pitching performance from sophomore Matt Francavillo (0-5), who completed his second start in a row, pitching six innings and allowing eight hits, four walks and four earned runs. He struck out six, mixing a very effective curveball with a change and fastball.

The Bulls' lone run came in the bottom of the sixth inning with the Bonnies leading 6-0 as the rain started to fall harder. Senior center fielder Phil Vanhorne tripled to lead off and scored on a two-out line single by sophomore catcher Dan Quinn.

Friday's Mid-American Conference game between Bulls and Ohio University was filled with surprises, plot twists and changes in momentum. It was everything that a college baseball game is supposed to be.

Saturday morning's steady rain brought the worst plot twist, however, as neither the Bulls (11-20-1 overall, 1-6-1 MAC) nor the Bobcats (17-14-1 overall, 6-4-1 MAC) got to take a happy ending from Friday's game, which was called due to rain as the Bobcats took the field for the bottom of the 13th inning.

Unplayable conditions at Amherst Audubon Field wiped out the planned conclusion of Friday's contest, as well as the doubleheader to be played after that. No makeup date will be set for the final two games of the series.

Down 6-2 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning on Friday, UB's next seven batters reached base. A three-run homer by junior James Kingsley tied the game at six and after two more singles, sophomore Mike Connelly blooped a single down the right field line on a 3-2 pitch to give the Bulls the 7-6 lead.

Ben Crabtree sparked a two-run Ohio ninth with an RBI single to center field to tie the game before Brian Colopy followed with an RBI single on a soft looper. The Bulls' second baseman dove for and got a glove on the ball, but it trickled loose to give Ohio the lead, 8-7.

The lead didn't last as senior shortstop Joe Mihalics tripled to deep left center with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to score a run and send the game to extra innings.

Softball

UB 2, Central Michigan 0 (6)
UB 9, Youngstown State 0
UB 8, Youngstown State 1

UB got a little help from Mother Nature on April 20 as it beat the conference-leading Central Michigan Chippewas, 2-0, in six innings at Nan Harvey Field. The game originally was scheduled as a doubleheader, but rain and wind forced the cancellation of the second game.

The Bulls scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth after a 50-minute rain delay. Sophomore Mary Russell, who was batting when the delay was called, worked a walk. With two outs, freshman Marcy Hansen hit a sharp single to first, putting two on for senior Ann Magur. With a 3-2 count and the runners moving, Magur hit a blooper into right field, scoring the first run of the game. Freshman Lacy Schneider followed with another single to right field, scoring Hansen before Magur was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

The Chippewas had a chance to tie the game up in the sixth inning. After a one-out single, Jacque Benedict hit a sharp line drive to freshman Laura Kor at third base, who was able to double up the runner at first.

UB received a strong pitching performance from sophomore Sophie Barstad, who only gave up three hits while striking out one and walking none for her seventh victory of the season.

The game finally was called in the bottom of the sixth inning after a second rain delay that lasted 25 minutes.

UB extended its winning streak to five games with a non-conference doubleheader sweep at Youngstown State, 9-0 and 8-1, on April 21. Kor hit three home runs to lead the offense, and senior Stacey Evans recorded her 500th career strikeout to highlight the Bulls' efforts. UB is now 15-23 overall and has won nine of its last 11 games and 11 of its last 15. The five-game winning streak is the longest in the Bulls' Division I history.

The Bulls' offense got started in the third inning of game one, scoring three runs on two hits. Junior Lauren Picciano led off the inning with a single to center. A walk, a hit batter and two outs later, senior Melissa Pace singled to left field to drive in the first run of the game. Senior Julie Hibner reached on a fielding error that allowed two more runs to score before the Penguins got out of the inning. Kor hit her first home run of the evening in the fifth inning, a solo shot to left field to put the Bulls up 4-0, and Russell followed with her first career homer, also a solo shot to left field, in the sixth inning to put the Bulls up 5-0.

UB finished its onslaught with a five-hit, four-run seventh inning. Freshman Kerry Cafazzo and Russell both hit RBI-singles, and Picciano hit a sacrifice fly to score the third run in the inning. An RBI-single by freshman Marcy Hansen finished up the scoring.

Evans pitched the complete-game shutout for the Bulls, striking out six and allowing seven hits. She entered the game with 498 strikeouts and struck out the first two batters in the second inning to record her 500th career K. Hibner and Russell were both 2-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the offense.

The Bulls continued their offensive surge in game two. Kor got things started with a three-run home run in the fourth inning, and an RBI-single by Hansen in the fifth gave the Bulls a commanding 4-0 lead. Kor then hit her third homer of the day to lead off a three-run sixth inning. Pace followed with a single up the middle and then scored on a double by Jock. A single by Cafazzo drove in Jock for the final run of the inning, and an RBI-double by Schneider drove in the final run of the game in the seventh inning.

Kor finished game two hitting 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBIs to lead the offense. Barstad pitched the complete game, giving up eight hits and striking out five.

The weekend of wet weather forced the cancellation of UB's series against MAC-rival Miami (OH). The series will not be rescheduled.

Tennis

WOMEN'S

UB 6, Akron 1

UB dumped Akron, 6-1, in the regular season finale for both teams in action Friday afternoon. Due to inclement weather in Akron, the match was moved indoors.

UB will head into next week's MAC Championship with an 8-6 overall mark and a 4-5 league record, the most wins in the conference since joining for the 1998-99 season.

UB opened the match by sweeping the three doubles contests. At number one, Miglena Nenova and Kristen Ortman defeated Courtney Brenkus and Mindy Price, 8-1. The number two team of Andreea Novaceanu and Tina Jacob had an easier time, shutting out Jennifer Ales and Laura Hemlepp, 8-0. The sweep was completed as number three Katrin Fischer and Sabrina Carmona defeated Vero Duchesne and Amy Sherlock, 8-5.

The Bulls also took five of the six singles matches, all in straight sets. Novaceanu downed Brenkus, 6-2, 6-1, at number one. At number two, Nenova rolled past Sherlock, 6-3, 6-2. Ortman, UB's winningest player in Division I singles history, notched her 40th career win as she knocked off Price, 7-5, 6-2, at number three. Fischer breezed by Stephanie Miles, at number four, by a 6-3, 6-1 margin. Jacob, at number six, allowed just one game to Ales, winning 6-0, 6-1.

The lone UB blemish came at number five as Carmona and Hemlepp split the first two sets to force a super-tiebreaker. Carmona won the first set, 7-5, but dropped the second, 6-4. In the super-tiebreaker, Hemlepp scored a 10-7 victory to take the match and deny the Bulls of the shutout.

UB enters the MAC Championships with its best-ever seeding for the tournament at number six, and will avoid today's matches for the bottom four seeds. UB has never been seeded higher than ninth among the 10 squads.

The Bulls will face third-seeded Miami (OH) tomorrow morning. UB fell to the RedHawks, 5-2, on April 16, but two of the singles matches went to Miami in third sets to provide the margin of victory.

Track and Field

Bulls battle weather at UB Open

A combination of chilly temperatures, wind and rain greeted competitors for the annual UB Open held on Saturday in UB Stadium. There was no team scoring in the meet as the Bulls used the competition as a tune-up for next month's MAC and NCAA East Regional meets. UB's women put up winning marks in 17 of the 18 events, while the men scored 10 first-place finishes.

In conditions that were not conducive to season-best marks, UB's Sarah Vance established a school record in her victory in the discus. Vance posted a toss of 156-7 (47.75m) to break the 2002 record of Sarah Fletcher by seven inches. Vance's throw also qualified her for the regional meet Manhattan on Memorial Day weekend.

Patrice Coney finished first in four events. She won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.62 seconds in the lone event that included opponents from other schools. Coney also bested teammate Vashone Wallace to win the 200-meter dash in 25.59 seconds. Wallace finished in 25.88. The times were season-bests for both runners. Coney also took the high jump with a season-best 5-3 (1.60m), ahead of four other UB entrants, and was the lone entrant in the triple jump, finishing at 34-8.50 (10.58m).

Faith Thompson, the UB record holder in the shot put and hammer throws, took first place in both events. She won the shot put at 44-11.75 (13.71m), as UB throwers posted the top four distances. She also won the hammer throw at 195-7 (59.61m).

Two other UB women established personal records to win their events. Jen Jezorski won the 800-meters in 2:11.74, lowering her previous best by two and a half seconds and winning the race by more than 15 seconds. Dana Ventrone also established a personal best with her win in the long jump at 18-0 (5.48m).

Other individual women's winners included Charisse Everett in the 100-meters (12.54), Stacy Downer in the 400-meters (58.19), Jennie Donofrio in the 5,000-meters (18:24.08), Celestine Coney in the 400-meter hurdles (1:01.74), Carrie Hinners in the pole vault (11-0, 3.35m) and Vanessa Roelofson in the javelin (143-10, 43.84m).

Gary Asbach won two individual events for the UB men. Asbach captured both horizontal jumps with wins in the long jump at 21-6.75 (6.57m) and triple jump at 44-1 (13.44m).

Mike Giordano captured the men's shot put at 49-1.75 (14.98m).

On the track, Paul Riley won the 400-meters in 49.52. Dan McKenna took the 800-meters in 1:55.29. Steve Strelick won the 1500-meters in 4:04.19 and finished second to McKenna in the 800-meters (1:59.62). Brian Heim won the 400-meter hurdles in 54.03.

UB's men also won the only relay race that was contested against another school as the 4x400-meter team of Chris McClure, Riley, McKenna and Heim finished in 3:21.15 to defeat a foursome from Alfred State.

The Bulls travel to Michigan this weekend for Hillsdale College's Gina Relays.

Crew

Cincinnati meet scrubbed due to weather

The same storm system that hampered UB's home events last weekend also stretched into the Ohio River valley. UB's rowing meet with Cincinnati and Kansas was cancelled due to inclement weather and will not be made up.

The Bulls will travel to Eastern Michigan this weekend for the renewal of the Harvey Cup. Eastern Michigan, the only other member of the MAC that sponsors women's rowing, won last year's inaugural competition on Tonawanda Creek.