University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: April 3, 2008

Baseball

Le Moyne 10, UB 9
UB 1, Central Michigan 0
UB 4, Central Michigan 3 (10)

Trailing 9-2 after four innings, UB rallied at Le Moyne, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling, 10-9, on March 26.

UB took the lead in the first inning when Brian Randazzo walked to open the frame and scored when Rob Mancini doubled to the center-field fence. The UB lead increased to 2-0 when Chris Ciesla drove in Mancini.

Le Moyne tied the game in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run by Corey O’Neill, and took a 3-2 lead on a solo home run by Chris Edmundson. The Dolphins scored four more in the second, the big hit of the inning coming when Edmundson hit a three-run shot to right field for his second home run of the day.

The Dolphins scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to extend their lead to 9-2.

Trevor Blair reached base on an error to lead off the fifth inning and scored on a RBI single by Randazzo. The Bulls got their second run of the inning when Mancini drove in E.J. Folli with a single.

After Le Moyne scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, Nick Walczak led off the sixth for the Bulls with a home run to right-center field, cutting the Le Moyne lead to 10-5. Adam Skonieczki then singled and was driven in on a sacrifice fly by Folli.

Mancini cut the Le Moyne lead to 10-7 when he led off the seventh with a solo shot over the left-field wall. After Jacob Rosenbeck reached on an error, Ciesla cut the Dolphin lead to just one run with a two-run blast deep over the left-field fence.

UB threatened in the eighth as Randazzo singled, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out, but the Bulls were unable to bring him home.

On Sunday, the Bulls used a pair of outstanding pitching performances to sweep a doubleheader from Central Michigan. The Bulls took game one, 1-0, and completed the sweep with a 10-inning, 4-3 victory. With the sweep UB improves to 7-15 on the season, 2-3 in the MAC.

The Bulls and the Chippewas were locked in a pitcher’s duel in game one as Jeffrey Hains and Eric Lawrence each held a shutout through five innings.

UB broke through in the bottom of the sixth when Kevin McCall led off the inning with his second hit of the day, a single to right-center field. McCall then scored when Mancini doubled down the left-field line, breaking the scoreless deadlock.

Hains kept the Chippewa batters off balance the rest of the afternoon, going 8.2 innings, scattering five hits and striking out three while not allowing a run.

With two outs and two runners on in the ninth, Steve Geltz came on to pick up the final out and the save, getting Cody Allen to fly out to Eric Flynn in left to end the game.

In game two, Central Michigan struck first with a run in the first inning.

UB answered in the third, scoring a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead. Rick Oliveri singled to open the inning, McCall followed with a single to give UB a pair of baserunners. Mancini then singled to left, scoring Oliveri and giving the Bulls their first run of the game. Rosenbeck had the fourth hit of the inning for the Bulls, a single to center field that scored McCall and gave Buffalo the 2-1 lead.

Central Michigan regained the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the fifth, but UB tied the game with a run in the sixth when Ciesla scored on a single by Skonieczki.

The game went into extra innings when neither team could break the 3-3 deadlock.

In the bottom of the 10th, Walczak hit a two-out double down the left-field line and Skonieczki followed with a single up the middle that scored Walczak for the game-winning run.

Softball

Weekend series cancelled

Due to unplayable field conditions at Nan Harvey Field, UB’s MAC games against Toledo on Friday and Bowling Green on Saturday and Sunday were cancelled. The games will not be rescheduled.

The Bulls will attempt to get the MAC season started this weekend at Ohio and Akron.

Tennis

MEN’S

Western Michigan 6, UB 1
UB 4, Binghamton 3

UB fell to defending MAC champion Western Michigan, 6-1, on Saturday at the Village Glen Tennis Center.

UB scored one singles victory, gaining the point in dramatic fashion. In the Number-two match, Marcelo Mazzetto defeated Kazuya Komada in a super-tiebreaker. Mazzetto took the opening set, 7-5, then dropped the second set by an identical 7-5 score to set up the third-set super-tiebreaker. In the breaker, Mazzetto fell behind early and trailed Komada, 7-3, before rallying to take the next six points for a 9-7 lead in the 10-point contest. Komada then scored the next two points to tie the breaker at 9-9. Mazzetto picked up the 10th point, but was still unable to put away Komada, who tied the breaker at 10-10 on the next serve. Mazzetto finally was able to secure the final two points and win the breaker, 12-10.

In a match that lasted a little more than four hours, the Bulls needed every point to defeat visiting Binghamton, 4-3, Sunday at the Village Glen Tennis Center. The Bulls (5-14) netted the final three singles points after falling behind 3-1 to claim the win in their final home match of the season.

The Bulls won the final three points to close out the match with victories in the bottom three matches on the ladder, all in three sets.

In the number-four match, UB's Kirill Kolomyts battled through a nagging injury and third-set deficit to defeat Gregoire Berner, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Kolomyts trailed Berner, 3-0, in the third set before rallying to take six of the next seven games.

UB tied the match at 3-3 with a victory by Juan Carlos Wynter in the number-five match. Wynter netted a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win over Alex Dobrin as a line call went UB's way on the final point of the match.

Freshman Ezra Bernstein finished the comeback for the Bulls with a win in the sixth-singles match. Bernstein rallied from a set down to best Andreas Danielsson, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.

The Bulls had fallen behind, 3-1, after Binghamton scored wins in the top three matches, all in straight sets.

UB secured the doubles point in equally dramatic fashion with wins in the number-one and two matches after Binghamton won the number-three contest. The number-one duo of Nikesh Singh Panthlia and Octavian Stane rallied to get by Faisal Mohamed and Sebastian Dietz. The UB pair led 7-3 before Binghamton took the next five games for an 8-7 lead. UB held serve in the 16th game to force the tiebreaker. The Bulls closed out the match with a 7-5 win in the tiebreaker. A couple of minutes later, the doubles point was secured as the number-two duo of Mazzetto and Wynter outlasted Arnav Jain and Berner, 8-6.

UB will be on the road for the month of April. The Bulls travel to Northern Illinois for a MAC match on Saturday.

WOMEN’S

UB 7, Ball State 0
Miami (OH) 5, UB 2

The Bulls returned home for the first time in more than a month and did not disappoint their fans, scoring a 7-0 victory against Ball State on Friday at the Village Glen Tennis Center.

UB took all three doubles matches in what was a highly contested doubles point. Tina Jacob and Diana Toia defeated Emma Retter and Katherine Rist, 9-7, at third doubles. UB’s number-one team of Denise Harijanto and Diana Popescu clinched the doubles point for UB by defeating Haly Calderwood and Jennifer Pollack, 8-5. Harijanto and Popescu came from behind in that match, winning four straight games after being down 5-4. At number-two doubles, Andreea Novaceanu and Anna Subenkova defeated Sophie Quist and Georgina Thompson, 8-7 (3).

In singles play, the Bulls won all but one of their matches in straight sets. Novaceanu defeated Quist at first singles, 6-1, 6-1. Popescu, who picked up her team-leading 20th singles victory of the year, defeated Pollack at number two, 6-2, 6-3. Harijanto, playing at third singles, defeated Calderwood, 6-1, 6-4, and clinched the match for UB. Junior Smaranda Stan fought back in her match after dropping the first set to defeat Retter, 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (6). Toia took her match at fifth singles against Thompson, 7-6 (5), 6-3, and Jacob defeated Rist at sixth singles, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

On Saturday, UB lost its first MAC contest of the season to Miami (OH), 5-2, at the Village Glen Tennis Center. The Bulls are now 7-5 on the year and 2-1 in the MAC.

In doubles play, UB’s number-one team of Harijanto and Popescu defeated Brintney Larson and Anastasia Dracheva, 8-3, but it was UB’s only doubles win as the RedHawks clinched the doubles point with two wins.

In singles action, Harijanto won her match at third singles, defeating Leda Pesatova, 6-4, 7-6 (6), and Toia won her match at fifth singles, defeating Sydnee Bridger, 7-6 (2), 6-3. Three singles contests went to three sets. Novaceanu came up just short at number-one singles as she fell to Dracheva, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Stan also went into three sets at number four against Kelly Douple, who won, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Jacob fell at sixth singles to Victoria Pulido, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 1-0 (8). Popescu, playing at number-two singles, lost in straight sets to Larson, 6-1, 6-1.

The Bulls now hit the road for a three-match road trip beginning tomorrow at Bowling Green. The Bulls also will battle Western Michigan on Saturday. UB and Western Michigan have met in the MAC Championship finals each of the past two seasons.

Track and Field

Bulls post top results at Raleigh Relays

The men’s and women’s track-and-field teams were in action over the weekend at the Raleigh Relays, one of the nation’s top competitions. Although there was no team scoring at the meet, held at North Carolina State’s Paul Derr Track Stadium, the Bulls posted some strong results.

Distance runner Christine Sprehe won the section II race in the 1,500-meters in a personal-best time of 4:46.01. Sprehe also anchored UB’s 1,600-meter sprint relay to a ninth-place finish in 4:10.42. Joining Sprehe were Natalie Fildes, Octavia Johnston and Allison Grimes.

Fatimah Hill turned in a second-place finish in the women’s long jump, breaking her own school record. Hill attained an NCAA regional qualifying standard with her leap of 19-8.25 (6.00m), bettering the record she set in 2006 by two inches.

Alex Stamatakis took second place in the discus with a heave of 165-0 (50.30m).

The UB women had three fourth-place showings in the field events. Caitlin Godin tied for fourth in the high jump at 5-7 (1.70m) and Carrie Hinners finished fourth in the pole vault at 10-6 (3.20m). Vanessa Roelofsen placed fourth in the javelin with a throw of 149-2 (45.47m), while teammate Katie Weston was sixth at 138-4 (42.17m).

Both squads also posted strong times in the 4x200-meter relay, an event not typically run during the season. The UB men placed fourth in the event in 1:29.09 behind the foursome of Ezekiel Porter, Brandon Giles James Graber and Dan Schichtel. The women’s entry of Patrice Coney, Fildes, Grimes and Godin finished fifth in 1:43.73.

The Bulls will return to action at the Miami (OH) Invitational April 11-12.

Diving

McDowell competes at NCAA Championships

UB’s Michael McDowell finished 32nd among 33 entrants in last week’s preliminary round of the one-meter diving competition at the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

McDowell scored a total of 236.25 for his six dives and missed moving into the consolation or championship rounds. The top 16 preliminary finishers moved to the next round with the top eight divers in the championship round and the next eight divers in the consolations.

McDowell became the first UB men’s diver and second male in school history to compete in the NCAA men’s national championships after finishing second in the platform competition of the NCAA Zone A Championships held at Alumni Arena Natatorium last month.

McDowell was scratched from the NCAA three-meter and platform events last weekend.

Crew

Bulls split races at Syracuse

UB’s varsity eight rowers split a pair of races over the weekend against Boston College and Boston University at Syracuse’s Onondaga Lake Outlet in Longbanch Park.

UB defeated Boston College’s entry in the first race by nearly 20 seconds. UB covered the 2,000-meter course in 7:18.4 to BC’s 7:37.3. The Bulls were unable to best Boston University, however. The Terriers finished in 7:28.4 to UB’s 7:37.8.

The varsity eight will head to San Diego to compete in this weekend’s San Diego Crew Classic. The remainder of the squad will be at Bucknell on Saturday in a dual competition on the Susquehanna River at Shamokin Dam, Pa.