University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: May 3, 2007

Baseball

St. Bonaventure 14, UB 7
UB 8, Niagara 4
UB 7, Akron 5
UB 12, Akron 3
Akron 8, UB 4 (11)

UB could not overcome a slow start and fell to St. Bonaventure, 14-7, April 24 in the opening round of the Big Four Classic.

St. Bonaventure scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning and another three runs in the bottom of the second to take the early advantage. After a UB run in the top of the fourth, the Bonnies responded with another five runs.

UB picked up another run in the top of the sixth inning, but St. Bonaventure again responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame. The Bulls put up three runs in the top of the eighth and two more in the ninth, but it wasn't enough to make up for the slow start.

Freshman Bobby Pizzuto led UB with three of the Bulls' seven hits in five at bats.

In the consolation game of the Big Four Classic on April 25, UB scored five unanswered runs en route to an 8-4 victory over Niagara. It is the second straight year that UB has defeated the Purple Eagles in the consolation game of this tournament.

UB used a four-run third inning to take the opener of a three-game series against Akron, 7-5, Friday afternoon at Amherst Audubon Field.

After allowing a run in the top of the first inning, UB tied the game up in the bottom of the frame as Pizzuto drove in Mike Folli with a single.

UB then broke through with four runs in the bottom of the third inning, capped of by a two-run home run from sophomore Chris Ciesla. Pizzuto scored a run on a passed ball, while sophomore Eric Flynn scored on a double from Nick Walczak. Walczak scored later on the Ciesla dinger.

Akron answered by scoring three runs in the top of the fourth inning to pull within one of the Bulls. However, UB answered with one run in the fifth inning and another run in the seventh inning.

UB won its second straight game against Akron—and third in a row—with a 12-3 decision over the Zips Saturday afternoon at Amherst Audubon Field. The victory also clinched UB's third straight conference series victory.

Rain delayed the start of the game by an hour and 35 minutes. After getting out of the top of the first inning by turning a double play with the bases loaded, UB scored two runs in the bottom of the first. Pizzuto continued his hot hitting by ripping a triple to right field to drive in Folli. Flynn then drove in Pizzuto with a single.

The Bulls added to their lead in the fourth inning, using a two-out rally to score two runs.

After Akron got on the board with a run in the fifth, the Bulls batted around the order in the bottom of the inning and scored three runs.

Akron picked up a run up in the sixth on a home run, but the Bulls answered with three more in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Zips added another run on a home run in the top of eighth, while the Bulls picked up their final run in the bottom of the inning.

UB took the Zips into extra innings in Sunday's game, but lost by a final count of 8-4. Akron scored four unanswered runs in the 11th inning, and the Bulls just missed out on their first series sweep of the season.

Softball

St. Bonaventure 5, UB 0; St. Bonaventure 4, UB 2
Kent State 10, UB 0; Kent State 5, UB 1

The host UB Bulls lost to St. Bonaventure in a nonleague doubleheader on April 24, falling to the Bonnies, 5-0 and 4-2.

In the first game, both the Bulls and the Bonnies were unable to score through the first four innings until St. Bonaventure put up three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth.

In game two, the Bulls jumped ahead of the Bonnies early, scoring one in the first and another in the second.

Unfortunately, that was the extent of the Bulls' offense. St. Bonaventure scored a run in the fourth and tied the score with another run in the fifth.

The Bonnies took the victory with two more runs in the seventh.

After rainouts on Thursday and Saturday, the Bulls hosted a hot Kent State squad in a MAC doubleheader on Sunday but fell to the first-place Golden Flashes, 10-0 and 5-1.

After being handcuffed by Kent State freshman and MAC standout pitcher Kylie Reynolds, who no-hit the Bulls in game one, UB resurged in game two, coming back with seven hits, including two—on Senior Day—by UB's lone senior, Colleen Greene and two by right fielder Samantha Gaetano.

After a scoreless first inning of play in game two, the Golden Flashes got on the board in the second with three runs, then added runs in the fifth and in the

Seventh innings. The Bulls finally scored with two outs in the seventh, when Brittney Hussong roped a single to leftfield. Senior Brandie Clark, making her first appearance of the season, was inserted to pinch run for Hussong. Jamie Sheffler struck a single up the middle to advance Clark to second. Gaetano then hit a hard single that scored Clark and sent Sheffler to second. Unfortunately, the one run was all the Bulls were able to put on the board,

Tennis

MEN'S—MAC TOURNAMENT

Northern Illinois 4, UB 0

UB was eliminated from the 2007 MAC Championships in the first round on April 26, 4-0, by Northern Illinois. It was the second consecutive season that the Bulls were knocked out of the tournament 4-0 by the Huskies.

The Bulls finished the 2006-07 campaign with an 8-13 overall record and 2-3 in MAC play.

WOMEN'S—MAC TOURNAMENT

UB 4, Ball State 0
UB 4, Toledo 1
Western Michigan 4, UB 1

UB's fight for the school's first MAC Championship title came up just short on Sunday, with the second-seeded Bulls falling to top-seeded Western Michigan, 4-1, in a rematch of last season's conference final. UB ended its season with a 17-3 record, the most wins in school history.

UB's lone singles win in the finals came in the number-six match as Katrin Fischer defeated Emily Dudzik in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Fischer's win was her 10th straight singles triumph.

Western Michigan won the match with victories in the top three singles matches, all in straight sets, although UB put up a considerable fight.

Miglena Nenova dropped a 6-1, 7-5 decision to Carrie Jeanmaire, named the tournament MVP following the match, in the number-one contest. The match was tied 5-5 in the second set before Jeanmaire took the final two games for the victory. Denise Harijanto lost to Kerstin Pahl, 6-3, 6-4, in the number-two match and Andreea Novaceanu fell in the number-three match to Priyanka Parekh, 6-3.

UB's Natalie Dean and Fischer were named to the MAC's All-Tournament team.

Outdoor Track and Field

UB competes at Penn and Gina relays

UB competed at two venues over the weekend with good results on both fronts. A small contingent of athletes competed at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia, while most of the squad saw action at the Hillsdale Gina Relays in Michigan. There was no team scoring in either event.

In Philadelphia, senior Rayshon Higgins earned an NCAA East Regional qualifying distance with his finish in the college triple jump. Higgins cleared 49-4.50 (15.05m) to set a season-best in the event and finish sixth among 24 entrants. Senior Roy Richards finished seventh of 26 competitors in the Eastern long jump with a distance of 23-4.75 (7.13m). Senior Reggie Rucker placed 22nd in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing in 14.49 seconds. UB's men's 4x100-meter relay team of Ezekiel Porter, Richards, James Graber and Rucker turned in a clocking of 41.85 seconds, finishing third in their heat and 28th overall among 69 teams. For the women, junior Carrie Hinners tied her season-best height with a height of 11-5.75 (3.50m) in the college pole vault to finish fifth overall.

At the Hillsdale meet, UB team members turned in three victories and posted several season-best marks.

In the women's competition, Sarah Vance won the hammer throw, improving her NCAA East Regional qualifying distance with a toss of 182-9 (55.71m). Tina Villa won the shot put with a season-best distance of 48-4.75 (14.75m) as Vance finished second at 48-3.25 (14.71m). Vance and Villa also competed in the discus with Vance placing third with a season-best 151-8 (46.22m) and Villa also turning in a season-best mark of 148-9 (45.35m) for fifth place.

The UB men scored a one-two finish in the decathlon as Todd Joki won the 10-event competition with 6,504 points. Russell Cameron finished second with a total of 5,997 points.

Eugene Kennedy earned a pair of third-place finishes, turning in season-best performances in both the triple jump at 45-4.50 (13.83m) and the high jump with a leap of 6-6.75 (2.00m).

Other third-place performances were turned in by Jake Madonia in the men's shot put and Kimarie Black in the women's triple jump.

The Bulls are back in action this weekend at the Al Campbell Open at the University of Akron on Saturday.