University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Football

Scott and Richard selected in NFL draft; Woods also signs

For the first time in school history, UB had two players selected in the same NFL draft. The next day, a third player signed with an NFL team as a free agent.

Trevor Scott and Jamey Richard were selected in the sixth and seventh rounds, respectively, on Sunday afternoon. Scott was selected with the 169th pick by the Oakland Raiders and Richard was chosen by the Indianapolis Colts with the 236th pick.

The following day, punter Ben Woods signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns.

A defensive end while at UB, Scott is projected to play either defensive end or linebacker in the NFL. Originally recruited as a tight end, Scott flourished as a defensive end when head coach Turner Gill had him switch positions. In just two seasons as a defensive end, Scott racked up 19 sacks in 24 games (.79 per game), the third-highest total in school history. He was a second-team All-MAC selection and was runner-up in MAC Defensive Player of the Year voting.

Richard was the anchor of the Bulls’ offensive line. He was an honorable mention All-American by Pro Football Weekly and a second-team and academic All-MAC selection in 2007. As the Bulls’ starting center, he helped pave the way for an offense that scored a Division I-A-record 291 points, produced the Bulls’ first 1,000-yard rusher in the Division I-A era (James Starks) and protected a quarterback that completed a school-record 258 passes (Drew Willy).

Richard, who will play either the center or guard position for the Colts, will join former UB teammate Ramon Guzman, who completed his first season as a linebacker with the Colts in 2007.

Woods capped a stellar career at UB by setting the school record for punts (281) and punt yards (11,053) and ranks second in school history in punt average (39.3 yards). In 2007, he made it to the semifinal round of voting for the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation's top punter.

Baseball

UB 3, St. Bonaventure 2
St. Bonaventure 11, UB 1
Niagara 10, UB 6
UB 10, Akron 4
UB 11, Akron 8
Akron 9, UB 7

UB took game one of a doubleheader with St. Bonaventure, 3-2, on April 22 at Amherst Audubon Field. But the Bonnies came back and won the second game, 11-1. Chris Ciesla had three hits and two runs batted in for the Bulls and Chaz Mye threw 4.2 innings of relief without allowing a hit.

Tied 2-2 in the opener, the Bulls pushed across the game winner in the fifth, Brian Randazzo led off with a bunt single and Adam Skonieczki followed with another infield hit. After a groundout advanced the runners, Randazzo scored on a groundout by Ciesla, giving Buffalo a 3-2 lead

Steve Geltz came on to pitch a scoreless sixth and seventh innings for the Bulls, picking up his sixth save of the season. James Piazza earned the win for the Bulls, his second of the year.

In game two, St. Bonaventure scored seven runs in the second inning and tacked on three more in the third en route to an 11-1 win. Shivam Bhan drove in UB's run with a single in the third inning.

The Bulls dropped a non-conference game at Niagara, 10-6, on April 23. Ciesla drove in three runs for UB. Zach Anderson started on the mound for the Bulls, going five innings and allowing just one earned run while striking out two.

In Friday’s MAC opener against Akron, the Bulls exploded for six runs in the eighth on their way to a 10-4 victory. Randazzo and Charlie Karstedt each had three hits on the day for the Bulls.

Ten Bulls came to the plate in the six-run eighth inning. Bhan and Karstedt began the inning with a pair of doubles down each line. Bhan doubled down the left-field line and Karstedt followed with his second double of the day down the right-field line, scoring Bhan and giving the Bulls the lead. Kevin McCall reached on a bunt single and Rick Oliveri singled to right center, scoring Karstedt. E.J. Folli got the fifth-straight hit for the Bulls with another bunt single and McCall scored on an error on the play. A single up the middle by Randazzo accounted for the sixth hit of the frame and two more runs for UB. After a fielder's choice and a caught stealing, UB scored its sixth run of the inning when Nick Walczak drew a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a single to left by Ciesla.

On Saturday, the Bulls jumped out to a quick start, scoring eight runs in the first two innings, and held on to defeat Akron, 11-8. Jesse Reinstein picked up his first career win on the mound for the Bulls. Randazzo and Karstedt each collected three hits.

Offensively, the Bulls picked up where they left off on Friday in scoring three runs in the first. Randazzo doubled to left to start the inning. A groundout, hit by pitch and fielder's choice followed, bringing Bhan to the plate with two outs. Bhan hit a triple to the wall in right field, scoring a pair for UB. Karstedt then followed with a double to right, scoring Bhan and giving the Bulls a 3-0 lead.

After Akron scored a run in the second, Buffalo responded with five in the bottom of the frame. Oliveri and Folli each singled before Randazzo drove a three-run homer to right to give the Bulls a 6-1 lead. The home run was Randazzo's third of the campaign. Skonieczki then singled through the right side and Ciesla hit a two-run blast over the center field fence to increase the lead to 8-1. The two-run shot was Ciesla's third round-tripper of the season.

The Zips cut into the lead with a run in the fourth and another in the fifth, but the Bulls answered with two in the fifth and an Oliveri homer run in the sixth.

Akron trimmed the UB lead to 11-8 with three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth, but Anderson worked his way out of the eighth with a pair of strikeouts to slam the door on the Akron rally.

On Sunday, the Bulls were unable to overcome a seven-run seventh inning by Akron and fell to the Zips, 9-7. Walczak and Oliveri each hit home runs for the Bulls in the loss.

Softball

Niagara 10, UB 7
Niagara 5, UB 1
Kent State 5, UB 0
Kent State 4, UB 0

UB opened the week with a doubleheader loss to the Niagara Purple Eagles, 10-7 and 5-1, on April 23 at Nan Harvey Field.

Freshman Lindsey Hampton had a career day in the batter's box, finishing the day 4-for-7 with a double and three RBIs. Sharon Barr drove in three runs in the opener.

On Saturday, the Bulls hosted MAC rival Kent State, falling 5-0. Offensively, Mary Russell went 1-for-2 with a walk to lead UB. Kristen Gallipani, Alex Bejarano, Marcy Hansen and Barr also recorded one hit each.

In Sunday’s finale, the Bulls fell to the Golden Flashes, 4-0. Russell ended the contest 2-for-3 with a stolen base, while Hansen finished 1-for-2 with a walk and two stolen bases. Barr pitched six strong innings for the Bulls, striking out five while giving up just five hits and two earned runs.

UB will host Eastern Michigan in a MAC doubleheader at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Nan Harvey Field.

Tennis

MEN’S

Toledo 5, UB 1 (MAC Championship)

UB was eliminated from the MAC Championship on April 24 with a 5-1 loss to third-seeded Toledo. The Bulls finished the season with a 6-17 overall record.

The Bulls scored a singles victory from senior Nikesh Singh Panthlia in his final match at UB. Singh Panthlia, playing second singles, defeated Toledo’s Chris Clark in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. The win was the 24th singles triumph for Singh Panthlia this season, tying him with UB assistant coach Nick Zieziula for the second-most singles wins in one year.

Track and Field

Bulls travel to Penn Relays and Hillsdale meet

UB sent squads to a pair of meets over the weekend. The men’s sprinters and women’s jumpers traveled to Philadelphia for the annual Penn Relays, while the rest of the members of the teams traveled to Hillsdale College for the Gina Relays. There was no team scoring in either meet.

At the Penn Relays, the Bulls sent five men’s sprinters to compete in the 4x100-meter and 4x200-meter relay events. Dan Schichtel, Ezekiel Porter, Brandon Giles and Brian Smith finished fourth in the 4x100 IC4A race with a clocking of 41.28. Georgetown won the race in 41.02. The Bulls reached the finals by placing fourth in their heat in 41.30. The time was the 26th fastest among the 80 entered teams. UB also fielded a foursome in the 4x200-meters, with Porter, Giles, James Graber and Smith placing eighth in their heat in 1:27.58. The time was 32nd among 52 squads.

In the women’s events, Fatimah Hill was fifth among 23 entrants in the Eastern long jump, clearing 19-1.25 (5.82m). Caitlin Godin finished seventh among 17 entrants in the Eastern high jump at 5-4.50 (1.64m).

At the Hillsdale meet, the Bulls were led by a pair of jumpers who tied for the top spot in their event. Loic Sebuharara and Chandler Brown both leapt 46-4 (14.12m) to tie for first place in the men’s triple jump.

The UB women got a strong finish from their javelin throwers as Vanessa Roelofsen and Katie Weston finished second and fourth, respectively. Roelofsen finished with a toss of 135-2 (41.20m) while Weston threw 130-2 (39.68m).

Men’s thrower George Fetchko had a third-place finish in the shot put at 54-1 (16.48m) and also took fourth in the discus with a season-best throw of 153-3 (46.72m).

On the track, the Bulls picked up a third-place finish in the men’s open division of the 1500-meters when Dan Giza turned in a season-best mark of 3:53.85.

Both squads will compete this weekend at the Cornell Outdoor Invitational.