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Sports Recap
Mike Folli of the baseball team went 8-for-17 (.471) in UB's four games during the week. For the season, he leads the Bulls with a .326 average and eight doubles and three triples.
Mary Russell of the softball team hit 8-for-18 (.444) with a .524 on-base percentage and a pair of runs batted in, including a home run, in UB's six games during the week.
Baseball
UB 11, Canisius 3
Eastern
Michigan 10, UB 0
Eastern Michigan 6, UB 1
Eastern Michigan 4,
UB 2
After getting shut out three times in a row for the first time in the school's 46-year baseball history, UB responded with its finest offensive outing of the year, pounding 19 hits to down Canisius College, 11-3, in both teams' first Big 4 game of the spring on March 29 at the Demske Sports Complex.
The Bulls blasted nine extra-base hits, including four homers. They also got two four-hit performances, as sophomore second baseman Mike Folli went 4-for-6 with a double, two runs and two RBIs from the leadoff slot and senior first baseman James Kingsley went 4-for-6 with a homer, a double, two runs and three RBIs in the cleanup slot.
Hits became a premium for the Bulls in their weekend series at Eastern Michigan. On Friday, after an opening groundout, the next seven Eastern Michigan batters reached base en route to scoring five first-inning runs and a 10-0 decision. On Saturday, the Bulls fell, 6-1, and closed the weekend with a 4-2 loss in Sunday's finale.
The Bulls were unable to move a runner to third base in Friday's opener as EMU's George Biddle scattered eight hits and struck out eight.
On Saturday, Eastern Michigan hurler Jeff Fischer showed that he is a legitimate ace as he held the Bulls to three hits in a complete-game, 6-1 decision. The Bulls' pitching matched Fischer almost step-for-step, allowing only four hits, but a three-run homer by Isaiah Gainforth in the fourth inning after two walks put the Eagles ahead 4-1 and two more unearned seventh-inning runs cemented the game.
On Sunday, despite putting five runners on base in the final two innings, the Bulls couldn't dent the scoreboard as UB fell 4-2 to the Eagles.
UB (5-20 overall, 0-6 MAC) loaded the bases in the eighth inning after Kingsley led off with a single and two walks loaded the bases with two outs. But Kevin Wammes, the fourth EMU hurler of the frame, got a flyout to end the inning.
After the Bulls set the Eagles down in order in the eighth inning, Folli doubled to lead off the ninth, sending the tying run to the plate for each at bat in the frame. After a strikeout, senior Carl Aquila singled to right center to move Folli to third and bring the go-ahead run to the plate. However, Wammes settled down to strike out the last two batters and end the threat.
Softball
Pittsburgh 3, UB 2
Pittsburgh
7, UB 2
Bowling Green 1, UB 0
Bowling Green 4, UB 1
Toledo
2, UB 0
UB 7, Toledo 4
Playing its first non-tournament game of the 2006 season, UB dropped a pair of games to Pittsburgh, 3-2 and 7-2, on March 29.
UB finally got the home schedule under way at Nan Harvey Field after playing its first 32 games on the road. The Bulls dropped Friday's doubleheader to Bowling Green, 1-0 and 4-1. The second game included a rain delay of more than an hour.
In the opener, the Falcons used a solid pitching performance from Liz Vrabel, who struck out 11 UB batters, while allowing just three hits. Her counterpart, junior Sophie Barstad, pitched a complete game, allowing five hits and one unearned run in the third inning.
In the second game, the Bulls got into early trouble when the Falcons loaded the bases, but UB hurler Margo Schramm pitched out of the jam to keep the game scoreless.
In the top half of the fourth, not only did the BGSU runs start coming, but so did the rain. Bowling Green put two runs on the board before the game was halted due to the weather. After action resumed, the Falcons put another two runs on the board with a home run by Ashley Zirkle in the sixth.
The Bulls scored one in the bottom of the inning when Erin Zilka hit her team-leading fifth home run of the season. But that was as close as the Bulls could get in the game.
On Saturday, Toledo catcher Alison Hess hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to propel the Rockets to a 2-0 victory in a classic pitchers' duel.
Sunday's game with Toledo couldn't have been more different. The two teams combined for 25 hits as the Bulls snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 7-4 win. The Bulls improved to 9-26 on the year and 1-3 in conference play.
The Bulls will remain home this weekend, hosting Central Michigan for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Friday and Eastern Michigan for single games at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Tennis
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Ball State 7,
UB 0
Toledo 6, UB 1
UB slipped back near the .500 mark over the weekend with a pair of Mid-American Conference losses. The Bulls fell 7-0 to Ball State on Saturday and suffered a 6-1 loss to Toledo on Sunday. The Bulls are now 8-7 overall and 0-3 in MAC play.
The lone victory for the Bulls against Toledo on Sunday was at second singles as Nikesh Singh Panthlia scored a straight-sets win over Chris Clark, 7-6, 6-2.
Soccer
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UB wins Western New York Open
UB revealed a sneak peak at the 2006 season Saturday afternoon as it came away with the first annual Western New York Open title, upending the Rochester Junior Rhino Soccer Club, 3-0, and Canisius, 2-0. The Bulls ultimately claimed the title after winning a coin toss with tournament runner-up Niagara, whom UB had tied in the first game of the tournament and who finished the day with an identical record (2-0-1) and goals scored (5).