Archives
Sports Recap
James Kingsley of the baseball team led the Bulls to three wins, including two against St. Bonaventure, by hitting .632 (12-of-19), scoring six times, with two doubles, a home run and six RBIs.
Kristen Ortman of the women's tennis team went 3-0 in singles and doubles play as the Bulls clinched a second-place finish in the Mid-American Conference, the highest-ever MAC finish by a UB men's or women's tennis team.
Baseball
UB 8, St. Bonaventure 4
UB 8,
St. Bonaventure 5
UB 4, Ohio 3
Ohio 11, UB 6
Ohio 17, UB
4
A three-run rally in the top of the sixth inning—capped by back-to-back RBI singles from sophomore Mike Folli and freshman Brad Agustin in the nightcap—lifted UB to its first doubleheader sweep against Big 4 rival St. Bonaventure since 1972. UB took the first game, 8-4, and the second game, 8-5.
The Bulls came from behind in both games and a 5-for-8 day from senior James Kingsley helped pace the team to the sweep of the Bonnies, who have hopes of making the Atlantic 10 playoffs.
Down 5-3 heading into the sixth, the Bulls mounted a one-out rally when freshman Jacob Rosenbeck singled to right center before two walks loaded the bases for Folli, who snuck an RBI single past a diving second baseman to score two runs and tie the game. After Folli was thrown out stealing second for the second out, Agustin singled up the middle on the next pitch to score freshman Eric Flynn with the winning run.
UB added two more in the seventh inning when Kingsley singled before junior Dan Quinn lifted a monster homer to left field.
A three-run homer from David Amaro in the fifth inning and a 4-for-4 game from Kingsley lifted the Bulls to a come-from-behind victory, 8-4, in the first game. Kingsley paced the Bulls with his school-record 41st career double and three RBIs, while Carl Aquila, who batted in front of cleanup man Kingsley, went 2-for-3 with two runs.
Quinn did his best Carlton Fisk imitation on Friday afternoon, as his bottom-of-the-eighth-inning. two-run home run handed UB a 4-3 win against Ohio in the opening game of a three-game set.
The Bobcats punished the Bulls for that dramatic, come-from-behind victory by smashing 35 hits and sweeping a doubleheader on Saturday at Amherst Audubon Field, 11-6 and 17-4.
Softball
UB 3, Canisius 2
Canisius 1,
UB 0
Western Michigan 1, UB 0 (8)
Western Michigan 6, UB 0
Northern Illinois 4, UB 1
Northern Illinois 4, UB 3
UB split a doubleheader against Canisius on April 18 at the Demske Sports Complex, winning the first game, 3-2, but falling, 1-0, in game two.
The first contest began as a pitchers' duel with both starters pitching no-hitters into the fourth inning. Canisius got on the board first in the fourth inning, scoring on a throwing error by third base.
The Bulls tied the game in the sixth inning on a home run by Sophie Barstad—her sixth of the season. However, in the bottom half of the inning, Canisius retook the lead on a single down the left-field line.
The Bulls would not go quietly, and after the first two batters in the seventh inning walked, sophomore Marcy Hansen sacrificed them up a bag to put both runners into scoring position. During the next at-bat, the Canisius catcher tried for the pick-off play at third, but hit Kerry Cafazzo in the back, sending the ball into the outfield. Cafazzo scored, as well as Colleen Greene.
Barstad closed the door in the seventh to pick up her ninth win of the season.
In the nightcap, Canisius scored a run on a wild pitch in the first inning and that held up as the Golden Griffins escaped with a 1-0 win.
On Friday, the MAC West-leading Western Michigan Broncos swept a doubleheader from the Bulls, winning by scores of 1-0 in an extra-inning opener and 6-0 in the second game at Fran Ebert Field.
The Bulls and the Broncos were in a pitchers' duel in the first game, as neither team was able to cross the plate in the first seven innings. It wasn't until the bottom of the eighth that the Broncos scored the only run of the game, thanks to a single up the left side by Tricia VanDerSlick.
In the second game, Western Michigan continued where it left off in the first contest, scoring two runs in the first inning. The Broncos added another run in the bottom of the third inning-unearned because the runner got on base due to a passed ball on a strike out. In the sixth inning, the Broncos broke the game wide open, scoring another three runs to take a commanding lead in the contest.
UB fell 4-1 to Northern Illinois in the opener of a two-game series at Mary M. Bell Field on Saturday night.
With NIU leading 3-0, the Bulls finally were able to get a run on the board in the top of the fourth inning. Barstad reached base after she was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game and was replaced by Jennifer Biernacki as a pinch runner. Biernacki advanced to second on a single to left field by Laura Kor. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Lacy Schneider and Biernacki scored on the next play, an error by the shortstop on a Greene grounder. However, the Bulls stranded two runners on base as neither of the next two batters were able to get a hit.
In the finale, UB ended up on the short end of a back-and-forth game against the Huskies, falling 4-3, Sunday afternoon. The loss was the fifth in a row for the Bulls.
The Bulls remain on the road, traveling to St. Bonaventure today for a doubleheader.
Tennis
MEN'S
Binghamton 5, UB 2
UB finished the regular season with a 5-2 loss to three-time defending America East champion Binghamton on Friday. The Bulls head into next week's MAC Championships with an 11-8 overall record.
UB picked up singles wins in the number one and two matches. At number one, Mike Rockman rolled to a straight-sets win over Richemn Mourad, 6-3, 6-4. Nikesh Singh Panthlia needed a super-tiebreaker to defeat Brian O'Connor in three sets. Singh Panthlia won the opening set, 6-3, but fell in the second set, 6-4, before winning the 10-point breaker, 11-9.
UB heads into this week's MAC Championships in Toledo as the fourth seed among the six member schools. UB will take on Northern Illinois in the opener today.
WOMEN'S
UB 4, Miami (OH) 3
UB 5, Ball State
2
UB clinched its highest finish in MAC play with a pair of home wins, 4-3 over Miami (OH) and 5-2 over Ball State. The Bulls now have won six straight matches and head into this week's MAC Championships as the number-two seed.
The Bulls moved into second place with the win over Miami. The RedHawks were the second-place team entering the contest. The Bulls swept the three doubles contests to take the first point of the match, then won three of four singles matches to take the victory.
Against Ball State on Saturday, UB opened play by winning two of the three doubles matches to collect the opening point. The Bulls then picked up four wins at singles to take the match, highlighted by Kristen Ortman's 6-4, 6-4 win over Katie Owens in the number-four match.
The lone senior on the UB roster, Ortman walked off the home court for the final time with her 59th career singles win, most in school history.
The Bulls will open MAC Championship play against Bowling Green, one of two MAC teams to defeat UB this season, tomorrow.
Outdoor Track and Field
Men third, women fourth at Northeast Ohio Invite
UB faced MAC rivals Akron and Kent State, as well as non-league foes Youngstown State and Ashland, on Saturday at the Northeast Ohio Invitational. The UB men placed third with 92 points, while the women finished fourth with 64 points in the five-team meets.
UB picked up four first-place finishes, led by a record-setting 4x100-meter relay victory. The foursome of Bryan Weinstein, Reggie Rucker, James Graber and Roy Richards won the race in 41.06, cutting .45 seconds off the previous mark set in 2002.
Freshman sprinter Rob McRae won the 400-meters in 47.92, the fastest by a Bull in the event this season. Dan Giza won the 3,000-meter run in 8:41.83, while Kate Kohout was the lone UB woman to win an event as she took the 800-meter run in 2:12.56.
Several Bulls will participate in this weekend's Penn Relays in Philadelphia, while other squad members will compete at the Gina Relays at Hillsdale College.
Crew
Bulls fall to Bucknell and Colgate
UB fell to Patriot League opponents Bucknell and Colgate on Saturday after coming up short in each of the five events scheduled at Bucknell's Shamokim Dam, one year after sweeping both teams in the same meet. The Varsity 8 took second place in the day's final race.
The rowing squad will take a break until the Metro Championships, to be held on May 7 in Worchester, Mass. Last season,
Football
Blue 63, White 53
Despite a 33-11 lead after the first quarter of play, the Blue (defense) came back to defeat the White (offense), 63-53, in a controlled scrimmage at UB Stadium to wrap up UB spring practice sessions.