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Sports Recap
Sean McWilliams of the baseball team picked up a win and a save in UB's three victories for the week. Against Canisius, he allowed one run in five innings in a 13-1 victory. Against Toledo, he got out of a seventh-inning, bases-loaded jam, inducing a double play and a strikeout to preserve UB's win over the Rockets. McWilliams lowered his earned run average to 3.47 in the two appearances over eight innings.
Melissa Pace of the softball team hit .300 with a team-high six RBIs and a 1.000 slugging percentage in UB's four victories, which sent the Bulls into the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the first time in school history. Pace hit a three-run home run in each game of a doubleheader sweep of Ohio on Saturday. She was a combined 3-for-5, with three runs scored and six RBIs in the two games. She also was perfect in the field in 26 chances at first base during the week.
Baseball
UB 13, Canisius 1
UB 8, Canisius 4
Toledo 17, UB 6
UB 4, Toledo 3
Toledo 2, UB 0
The Bulls got the bats going on May 4 with a doubleheader sweep of Canisius, dumping the Golden Griffins 13-1 in the opener and 8-4 in the nightcap, as the Bulls racked up 26 hits in the two games.
In the opener, the Bulls were led by David Amaro, who went 3-for-4 with a double and a homer. Mike Folli, James Kingsley, Dan Quinn and Andrew Wengert each had two hits for the Bulls in the 14-hit extravaganza.
Sean McWilliams (1-2) pitched five innings, allowing eight hits and two walks, but only one run as he stranded eight runners thanks to four strikeouts. Senior Anthony Marchioli pitched the final two frames, striking out four and walking three.
UB then scored in the first five innings of the second game, including a three-run third inning, to cruise to an 8-4 win in the nightcap.
Phil Vanhorne led the Bulls with a 3-for-3 performance, scoring twice and adding an RBI. Joe Mihalics, E.J. Folli and Wengert each had two hits in the game.
Matt Johnson (3-4) pitched five innings, allowing four hits and one run, while striking out three to earn the win. Reliever Tony Kurtz allowed five hits, two walks and three runs in the final two innings.
The Bulls ended up on the short end to Toledo on Friday to open a weekend MAC series. The Rockets used a 12-run sixth-inning that featured seven hits and two home runs to open up a 15-0 lead and cruise to a 17-6 win. Mike Folli had two hits and a pair of RBIs for the Bulls, while Kingsley stroked his 11th homer of the year over the left-center wall.
On Saturday, UB used two first-inning runs and Kurtz and McWilliams were able to do the rest as the Bulls defeated Toledo, 4-3.
Kurtz (5-2) set a school-record since Division I reinstatement with his fifth victory of the year. The freshman gave the Bulls six innings, allowing four hits, four walks and two runs in his second career start, while striking out two.
Mike Folli went 2-for-4 and scored twice to lead the Bulls. Vanhorne also went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, as UB notched 10 hits in the game. McWilliams, who earned his fifth career save, gave up three hits and a run as he struck out two in thee frames.
In the finale, freshman Shane Wolf tossed seven innings of seven-hit ball during his first collegiate start. Unfortunately for the southpaw, Toledo's J.R. Duffey gave up even less than Wolf's one unearned run, throwing a complete-game shutout as Toledo beat the Bulls, 2-0, in the rubber game of the three-game series.
The Bulls (15-26-1 overall, 2-11-1 MAC) and Rockets (14-30 overall, 4-12 MAC) placed scoreless ball until the bottom of the seventh inning when Brian Sanders led off by reaching second on an error by the left fielder. With one out, Sanders took third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a triple down the right field line from Joel Visser.
Wolf left seven runners on in the first three innings, but Duffey managed to get three groundball double plays as the Bulls left six runners on base in the game. Toledo notched another run in the eighth off Johnson as Ryan Laude reached on a one-out single, advanced two bases on a throwing error and scored on a single by Scott Boley.
Kingsley led UB's offense, as he went 2-for-4. Mike Folli's 22-game hitting streak was snapped on Sunday as he finished 0-for-3.
Softball
UB 5, Niagara 3
UB 7, Ohio 2
UB 9, Ohio 1
UB 2, Ohio 1
UB earned its first-ever trip to the MAC Tournament on Saturday by sweeping the Ohio Bobcats in a doubleheader by scores of 7-2 in game one and 9-1 in five innings in game two. The Bulls used the long ball, solid defense and great pitching to get the pair of wins.
The Bulls hit five home runs in the doubleheader, including two each from sophomore Mary Russell and senior Melissa Pace, who both hit one in each game. Freshman Laura Kor hit her team-leading sixth home run of the season in game two, a walk-off homer to end the game in the fifth.
Sophomore pitcher Sophie Barstad went the distance, recording her 10th victory of the season, giving up five hits and one earned run, and striking out one.
The Bulls were down a run early in game two, but loaded the bases for Pace in the bottom of the first inning. After a passed ball scored Ann Magur from third, Pace hit the long ball again, this time to left center, for her sixth RBI of the day.
The Bulls didn't stop in the second inning. Freshman Kerry Cafazzo led the inning off with a double, then Russell sent a shot over the left-field fence with one out to add to the Bulls' lead.
They tacked on another run in the fourth inning on a wild pitch by Michelle Sauter and then in the bottom of the fifth inning, with two outs, Pace doubled to left field to bring up Kor. She hit a shot over the right center fence, which would end the game early due to the eight-run rule.
Senior Stacey Evans didn't need the insurance, giving up only two hits one earned run, and striking out three. Evans and Barstad, have reached double digits in wins for the second-straight year.
The Bulls ended the regular season on a high note Sunday, completing a three-game sweep of the Bobcats, this time defeating them 2-1. The win secured the fifth seed in the MAC Tournament for the Bulls (21-26 overall, 11-8 MAC).
The Bulls used solid defense in the first two innings to keep the game scoreless. With runners on the corners and two outs, senior catcher Julie Hibner caught Jennifer Tisevich in a run down to end the inning. The Bulls were in trouble again in the second when Ohio had a runner in scoring position with only one out. But a sharp line drive to Evans turned into a double play to end the inning.
The Bulls got on the board in the third inning with two unearned runs on three Bobcats' errors. Junior Lauren Picciano began the inning with a single to right field and then stole second during the next at bat. Russell reached base on an error by the shortstop, which moved Picciano to third. With runners at the corners, Russell was caught in a run down, but an offline throw from first base sent Russell to second and plated the first Buffalo run. Freshman Marcy Hansen then dropped a successful sacrifice bunt to move Russell over to third. With two outs, Hibner hit a pop up that was misplayed by the Bobcat fielder at third, scoring Russell for a 2-0 Buffalo lead.
Evans retired 13 Bobcats in a row after the double play in the second before giving up three hits and her only run of the game in the seventh. Tisevich singled to center field, scoring Kelly Rodriguez, but Candace Warden hit into a game-ending double play for the 2-1 Buffalo win. Evans earned her 11th win of the year.
The Bulls end the regular season on a four-game winning streak and finish with a 9-2 record at Nan Harvey Field.
Earlier in the week, the Bulls used some late-inning heroics to beat Niagara, 5-3. The game was originally scheduled as a doubleheader, but the second game was cancelled due to inclement weather.
The Bulls were down early in the game after Evans gave up three Niagara runs in the first inning. However, she gave up only three hits and no runs for the rest of the game. Evans tied her career-high with a 12-strikeout performance.
The Bulls got a run in the second inning off the bat of Barstad, who hit her first home run of the season to center field. Although mostly known for her pitching, Barstad continued to be impressive from the plate.
UB trailed, 3-1, entering the seventh inning. Cafazzo led off with a triple to right center and later scored on a wild pitch to pull the Bulls within one. Russell followed with a double to left center, scoring Picciano with the game-tying run. The Bulls then got a single from Hansen, which ultimately set the stage for Barstad with two on and two outs. Barstad singled to right center, clearing the bases, and putting the Bulls ahead for good.
Track and Field
Bulls tune up for MACs at Akron meet
In the final tuneup before the MAC Championships, UB's track-and-field teams were victorious in two events apiece at the University of Akron.
UB weight thrower Faith Thompson again was victorious in the hammer throw, with a toss of 190-10 (58.17m). The hammer throw victory was Thompson's sixth in the seven meets that she has competed in during the season. Thompson also placed third in the shot put at 47-4.25 (14.43m).
For the UB men, distance specialist Andy Wigton picked up a victory in the 3,000-meter run, an event not typically run in championship competition. Wigton clocked a time of 8:43.78 to lead three UB runners across the finish line. Dan McKenna was fourth in 8:53.17 and Steve Strelick was sixth in 8:56.91.
Both of UB's 4x400-meter relay squads were victorious on Saturday. The women finished in 3:47.17. The men's team finished in 3:24.01.
Sarah Vance scored a second-place finish in the women's discus throw at 143-2 (43.64m). She also eclipsed her season best with a toss of 175-6 (53.50m) in the hammer throw to place third. Megan Housel finished third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:50.4. Jessica Lister established a season-best in the pole vault at 11-11.75 (3.65m) to also finish third. Charisse Everett also finished third in the long jump at 18-3.75 (5.58m) and clocked a season-best 12.04 in the 100-meters to finish fourth.
The UB men also picked up a pair of third-place finishes from Brian Heim and Mike Giordano. Heim clocked a 53.94 in the 400-meter hurdles, while Giordano turned in a season-best performance in the shot put at 53-2.75 (16.22m).
The Bulls return to the Buckeye State for the MAC Championships at Ohio University starting today with competition continuing through Saturday.
Crew
Weather halts Metro Cup races
The Metro Cup races, part of the ECAC National Invitational Rowing Championships, were a victim of the weather on Sunday, as less than ideal conditions prevented UB from competing in several events. Two heats in both the novice eight and varsity-eight competitions were completed before the weather scrubbed the remainder of the day's action.
In the novice eight race, UB won its five-team heat and posted the fastest time of the 10 overall entrants. The Bulls won the heat in 7:09.4, two seconds faster than Rhode Island (7:11.04) and 10 seconds ahead of Delaware (7:19.4). The time also was faster than first-place Villanova's mark of 7:15.6 in the second heat.
In the only other event run on Sunday, UB finished fourth in a five-team heat in the varsity eight race. The Bulls finished in 6:53.9, more than 17 seconds behind first-place Massachusetts' 6:36.3. The time was the eighth-fastest of the two heats, meaning that the Bulls would have raced in the Petite Final or consolation race.
Racing in the second varsity eight and varsity four competitions was cancelled, with no heats or finals contested.
The Bulls will look for better weather and racing conditions when they head for Philadelphia's Dad Vail Regatta, starting tomorrow, in the final meet of the season.