University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: March 22, 2007

Wrestling

Budd finishes career at NCAA Championships

Mark Budd's journey into the All-American round came to an abrupt end Friday morning when he was pinned by Harvard's Rob Preston at 6:50 in the second consolation bracket at the 2007 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Detroit. The UB senior was down 3-0 in the third period when Preston turned him and caught him with the fall.

Budd went 1-2 in his three matches at the NCAA Championships. He opened competition in the 133-pound weight class with a 2-0 loss to Indiana's Andrae Hernandez. Budd then moved into the wrestle-backs where he scored a 7-2 win over Oregon State's Bobby Pfennig before facing Preston in his final match.

Budd completes his senior campaign with a 36-6 overall record, the sixth-best win total in UB history. He ends his stellar UB career with a 104-37 overall record. His win total is third best in school history, while his .738 career-winning percentage is 11th best.

Outdoor Track and Field

Squads open season at Seahawk Invitational

UB kicked off the outdoor track-and-field season at the annual Seahawk Invitational with second-place team finishes in the men's and women's competitions and several UB athletes scoring individual wins.

The Bulls finished behind the host North Carolina-Wilmington on the scoreboard in both the men's and women's meets. Nine squads competed in both meets.

The UB women won four events, highlighted by a sweep by Sarah Vance in her three competitions. Vance, who competed at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships last week in the shot put, picked up where she left off with victories in the shot put, discus and hammer throw. Vance won the shot put with a toss of 14.75m and the hammer at 54.44m, establishing NCAA regional qualifying standards in both events. She also won the discus throw at 45.24m. Tina Villa finished second to Vance in the shot put at 14.00m and third in the discus at 42.30m.

Sophomore Mary Veith was the lone UB woman to win on the track, capturing the 800-meter run in 2:19.62.

For the UB men, freshman sprinter Ezekiel Porter won the 100- and 200-meter races. Porter won the 100 in 10.84 seconds and captured the 200 in 22.08 seconds.

Freshman Eugene Kennedy won two jumping events for the Bulls. Kennedy took the men's high jump at 1.98m and then followed with a victory in the triple jump at 13.16m. Freshman Greg Tarshus finished second to Kennedy in the high jump at 1.93m.

Sophomore Alex Stamatakis won the men's discus and hammer throws. Stamatakis won the discus with a toss of 47.34m, just shy of his top mark from last season. He took the hammer at 48.60m, improving on last season's top throw by nearly a full meter.

Senior Roy Richards and sophomore Jake Madonia also won field events for the Bulls. Richards captured the long jump at 7.19m, while Madonia took the shot put at 16.21m for a new personal best in the outdoor event. Madonia led the Bulls to a one-two-three finish in the shot put as George Fetchko was second at 15.27m and Stamatakis was third at 15.27m.

The Bulls will return to North Carolina this weekend for the Wake Forest Open in Winston-Salem.

Baseball

Navy 7, UB 0

Towson 8, UB 5

Maryland-Baltimore County 6, UB 2

Navy 9, UB 7

Despite recording eight hits on the afternoon, UB was unable to score, falling 7-0 to Navy on March 12 as the Bulls began their spring road trip in Maryland.

After allowing a run in the first inning, UB had a chance in the third, putting runners at second and third with just one out. The Bulls were unable to drive in either runner, though, as a strike out and a pop out ended the threat. Still trailing just 1-0, UB left runners on base in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings.

Navy scored four runs in the seventh and picked up another two in the bottom of the eighth.

The next day, the Bulls ended a streak of 22 innings without scoring a run by putting up five, but it wasn't enough as they fell to Towson, 8-5.

UB got on the board first, scoring a run in the top of the third inning. Sophomore Eric Flynn got on base with a single and ultimately moved to third after a balk and a wild pitch. Flynn then scored on a sacrifice fly by Devin Greeno—his first of two RBIs on the afternoon.

Towson responded by scoring seven unanswered runs.

The Bulls cut into the lead in the fifth inning when freshman Boby Pizzuto hit his first collegiate home run, a two-run shot to left field. The home run was UB's first round tripper as a team this year. The Bulls tacked on single runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to make the score 7-5 before Towson scored one in the bottom of the seventh.

The Bulls' next opponent was the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. UB was unable to overcome a slow start and fell, 6-2, on March 14.

UMBC got on the board first, putting up two runs in the bottom of the third inning. The Bulls threatened to cut into that lead for the first time in the sixth inning, putting runners at first and second with just one out. However, back-to-back strikeouts ended the Bulls' threat.

The Retrievers tacked on an additional run in the bottom of the sixth, plating a man on a two-out double down the left-field line.

UB finally got on board in the seventh inning when junior Tony Fuller led off with a walk. He advanced to third on a single by junior Rick Oliveri and then scored on a single through the right side by freshman Shivam Bhan. Oliveri moved to second on the hit.

Later in the inning, the Bulls had runners on the corners and just one man down. Junior Mike Folli grounded into a fielder's choice, but it allowed the second UB run to come home in the inning and put UB down just one going into the bottom of the seventh.

UMBC responded to the UB rally by scoring two more runs in the seventh inning and another in the eighth.

Facing Navy for the second time in the week, the Bulls were unable to overcome an early six-run deficit and fell, 9-7, on March 15.

After allowing six runs in the first two innings, UB put up four in the fourth, but Navy fought back and scored two in the bottom of the frame. The Bulls then added one run in the fifth and two in the sixth before Navy responded with a run of its own in the sixth inning.

UB's two-game series with Mount St. Mary's at the end of the week was cancelled due to bad weather.

The Bulls (1-12) now will focus their attention to Mid-American Conference play as the conference portion of the schedule gets under way tomorrow with a three-game series at Central Michigan.

Softball

Boston University 9, UB 0; Boston University 7, UB 0

Indiana 10, UB 1; UB 1, Boston University 0

Princeton 7, UB 2; Rhode Island 7, UB 4 (9)

UB used a mid-week doubleheader against the Boston University Terriers—played in Clearwater, Fla.—as a warm-up before playing in the Speedline Invitational, hosted by the University of Southern Florida, last weekend.

The Bulls fell to the Terriers, 9-0, in the first game on March 14 and were upended in the nightcap, 7-0.

In the first game of the day, UB—held to two hits—was unable to get the offensive ball rolling. Senior Colleen Greene led off the contest with an infield single while freshman Samantha Gaetano beat out a bunt to begin the top of the fifth and followed with her seventh stolen base of the early season.

In the day's second game, UB was no-hit by the Terriers.

The Bulls took on more than just Indiana University in the opening game of the 2007 Speedline Invitational, held in Tampa, on Friday.

The Bulls battled a six-hour rain delay, ultimately falling to the Hoosiers, 10-1. UB got on the scoreboard first, scoring a run in the top of the first. Junior shortstop Marcy Hansen opened the game with a single. Hansen moved to second on senior Colleen Greene's sacrifice bunt and later scored on freshman Sharon Barr's single to through the left side.

Indiana tied the score in the bottom half of the inning, and with one out and IU runners on second and third, the skies opened up and the lengthy rain delay began.

When the two teams finally returned to the field, the Hoosiers displayed their offensive prowess, breaking the tie in the bottom of the third and putting one on the board. Indiana then added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth, tallying five and later scoring two more in the bottom of the fifth.

The Bulls earned their first victory of a 10-day road trip to the Sunshine State on Saturday morning, defeating Boston University, 1-0. The Bulls finished the day with a split, later falling to Princeton, 7-2. Junior Lacy Schneider had a career day offensively, finishing 4-for-6 on the day with a pair of home runs, her first two of the season.

Fighting a scoreless stalemate through the first five innings, the Bulls unleashed at the plate, as Barr ripped a shot past the diving BU centerfielder to wind up on third base. Schneider then stepped to the plate and roped a single through the left side to score Barr, picking up what would be the game-winning RBI.

In its second game of the day, UB was upended 7-2 by a pesky Princeton squad. After the Tigers scored three in the top of the third, the Bulls mounted a comeback. Schneider stroked her first home run of the season over the left field fence, and UB scored another run in the bottom of the fourth when Schneider sent another ball over the left field fence to close in on Princeton's lead.

Despite the comeback, the Tigers erupted for four runs in the top of the sixth, which was good enough to hold for the 7-2 Princeton win.

The Bulls closed out the tournament on Sunday with a 7-4 loss to Rhode Island in nine innings.

UB got off to a strong start, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first. Hansen opened the game with a double to left field and Greene followed with her first homer of the season, a laser over the left-field fence to give the Bulls a 2-0 lead.

Rhode Island chipped away at the Bulls' lead, scoring one in the fifth and another in the sixth on a solo home run to knot the game at two.

After the Rams scored one in the top of the eighth, UB rallied to tie the game once again. With the international tiebreaker in place, the Bulls began the bottom half of the inning with Gaetano on second base. Katie Ivancich put down the sacrifice bunt to move Gaetano to third with Hansen picking up the RBI to tie the game again.

In the top of the ninth, Rhode Island's bats came alive, taking the Bulls for four runs on three hits. UB was unable to answer, scoring just one in the bottom half of the inning.

UB will compete next in the Indiana University Classic, set to begin tomorrow in Bloomington.

Tennis

MEN'S

Marquette 5, UB 1

Stetson 6, UB 0

Jacksonville 5, UB 1

UB dropped all three of its matches on a spring break trip to Florida. UB fell to Big East member Marquette, 5-1, on March 13 and then followed with a 6-0 loss to Stetson, ranked 70th in the latest ITA poll. UB lost to Jacksonville, 5-1, on Wednesday.

Against the Golden Eagles, the Bulls scored their only point when senior Mike Rockman defeated Stephen Shao, 6-3, 6-3, in the number-two singles match. The match was stopped with one singles contest left because Marquette had clinched the match and the Bulls were slated to play later in the afternoon.

Against Stetson, junior Nikesh Singh Panthlia put up the strongest fight against the Hatters. In the number-two match against Filip Kricka, Singh Panthlia was bested in a second-set tiebreaker, 11-9, dropping the contest in straight sets.

In the Jacksonville match, the Bulls and Dolphins only played singles contests. The lone win for the Bulls (4-9) came in the number- two match when Singh Panthlia scored a straight-sets victory over Francisco Riveroll. Singh Panthlia won the opening set, 7-5, then took a 7-2 tiebreaker to win the second set, 7-6, and claim the match.

The Bulls will host MAC foe Ball State at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Village Glen Tennis Center.

WOMEN'S

UB 5, Hillsborough CC 2

UB 9, Florida CC 0

UB opened its two-match, spring-break road trip to Florida with a 5-2 win over Hillsborough Community College, one of the top women's junior college tennis teams in the country and the NJCAA national runner-up last season.

The Bulls opened the match by securing the doubles point with victories in the number two and three matches, highlighted by the return of Andreea Novaceanu to the lineup. Novaceanu, who sat out the early spring schedule due to an injury, paired with Denise Harijanto to form the number-three combo, which defeated Eva Sambrano and Margo Rice, 8-2. UB's number-two pair of Miglena Nenova and Natalie Dean also picked up an 8-2 win in doubles play.

UB clinched the match with four of six singles wins. Nenova at number two, Dean at number four, Katrin Fischer at number five and Diana Toia at number six.

The Bulls continued their winning ways with a 9-0 victory over Florida Community College at Jacksonville on March 14. The Bulls, which improved to 8-1 with the win, allowed just three singles games to be scored against them with seven of the wins coming via shutout.

The Bulls will begin MAC play this weekend, traveling to Ball State tomorrow and Miami (OH) on Saturday.