University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: May 22, 2008

Baseball

Ohio State 14, UB 13
Ohio 6, UB 3
UB 5, Ohio 4 (10)
Ohio 15, UB 13

UB took an early lead against Ohio State, but was unable to hold on, falling to the host Buckeyes, 14-13, on May 13. Chris Ciesla and Brian Randazzo each drove in three runs in the loss.

After two scoreless innings, the Bulls struck first with a pair of runs in the third. Eric Flynn started the two-out rally with double down the left-field line. Randazzo drove in Flynn with a single and Nick Walczak drove in Randazzo for the second run of the inning.

UB scored nine more runs in the fourth when 13 men went to the plate for the Bulls. Jacob Rosenbeck and Charlie Karstedt each had a pair of hits for UB in the frame. Randazzo and Ciesla each hit a two-RBI double in the inning.

Ohio State began its comeback with a pair of runs in the fourth, but UB answered with two runs of its own in the fifth. Flynn singled to open the inning and later scored on an error. Ciesla drove in his third run of the game with a single that scored Randazzo.

But the Buckeyes continued to battle, scoring three in the fifth and two more in the seventh to cut the Bulls' lead to 13-7. A three-run home run by Justin Miller in the eighth brought Ohio State to within three, 13-10.

The Buckeyes used two hits, three walks and an error to score four runs in the ninth to complete the comeback.

The Bulls returned home from Columbus to take on MAC opponent Ohio in the final series of the season. UB dropped the opening game of the three-game series, 6-3, on May 15 at Amherst Audubon Field. Randazzo and Shivam Bhan each had a pair of hits for the Bulls.

After Ohio took an early 3-0 lead, UB tied the game with a three-run sixth inning. Randazzo drew a one-out walk and Adam Skonieczki followed with a single through the left side. The Bulls loaded the bases when Walczak reached on a fielder’s choice and an error by the Ohio shortstop prevented an out from being made at second base. Rosenbeck walked, driving in the first run of the game for UB, and Bhan followed with a two-RBI single to center field to tie the game.

After a scoreless seventh and eighth, Ohio broke the deadlock with three runs in the ninth.

Mike Stangroom started on the mound for the Bulls and threw seven solid innings, allowing three runs while striking out five and walking just one.

On Friday, UB trailed by four runs in the ninth, but forced extra innings and then scored in the 10th to knock off Ohio, 5-4. Randazzo singled home Bhan for the game-winning run.

Ohio took a lead in the fourth on a two-run homer to right field by Marc Krauss. The Bobcats added another run on a single by Trace Voshell in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead.

In the seventh, Ohio had a chance to add to its lead, but Jeffrey Hains came out of the bullpen for UB and spoiled the Bobcat rally. With runners on second and third and nobody out, Hains induced a groundout, a strikeout and a pop out to end the inning without a run scoring.

Buffalo starting pitcher Chaz Mye threw six solid innings, allowing just three runs while striking out three.

The Bulls’ bats came alive in the ninth, producing four runs to force extra innings. Bhan led off the inning with a single to center and scored one batter later when Karstedt tripled to the wall in right center. Following a walk to Rick Oliveri, Kevin McCall singled, scoring Karstedt. Randazzo recorded the first out of the inning on a groundout, but moved the runners up to second and third. Skonieczki came through with a two-RBI, game-tying single to right.

After Dan Francis pitched a perfect top of the 10th, Bhan again led off for the Bulls and drew a walk. Following a pop out, Rob Mancini drew a walk, moving the winning run into scoring position. A passed ball moved both runners up a base, and the third walk of the inning—this one to McCall—loaded the bases with just one out. Randazzo stepped to the plate for the Bulls and hit a chopper between first and second that the Ohio second baseman was able to field, but he had no play and the winning run scored for the Bulls.

Skonieczki went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in for UB. Francis picked up the win in relief-his first win of the season.

The Bulls ended the 2008 season on Saturday with a 15-13 loss to Ohio in the final game of the series. Rosenbeck drove in five runs for the Bulls. High winds helped account for six home runs in the wild, high-scoring affair.

Ohio jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but UB tied the game with a pair of runs in the second and took the lead with four runs in the third. Karstedt hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot down the right-field line, to tie the game. In the third, Rosenbeck drove in a pair with a double to right center, giving UB a 4-2 lead. Seniors Tony Fuller and Oliveri each drove home a run to extend the UB lead to 6-2.

The Bobcats drew closer with three runs in the fourth, but the Bulls answered with four in the bottom of the inning. Skonieczki hit a solo blast over the wall in right center and Rosenbeck added a three-run round-tripper later in the inning.

UB added three more runs in the sixth. Fuller hit an RBI triple to score the first run of the inning. Karstedt then singled home Fuller and McCall drove in Karstedt with a double.

After a scoreless seventh, Ohio drew closer with five runs in the eighth. Gauntlett Eldemire's three-run shot over the center-field fence pulled the Bobcats to within three, 13-10. Ohio took the lead with five more runs in the ninth, with Chris Klimko hitting a grand slam over the left-center field fence to complete the Ohio comeback.

Ciesla had four hits on the day for UB. Skonieczki, Walczak and Karstedt all had three hits for the Bulls, who collected a season-best 19 hits. UB ended the season with a record of 14-38, 7-19 in the MAC.

Track and Field

Squads finish sixth at MAC Championships

The men’s and women’s track-and-field squads finished sixth in their respective meets at the 2008 Mid-American Conference Track and Field Championships held last weekend in Bowling Green, Ohio. The UB men scored a total of 79 points for the three-day meet, while the UB women finished with 50.50 points. Akron’s men's and women's squads swept their way to the team titles.

UB senior Vanessa Roelofsen won her second consecutive MAC javelin title on May 15 to open the three days of competition. Roelofsen won the title with a toss of 154-10 (47.20m), more than two feet better than the second-place finisher, Bekah Stoltz of Kent State (152-3, 46.42m). UB freshman Katie Weston was third with a toss of 147-9 (45.04m).

Senior Patrice Coney won her second consecutive women’s heptathlon title and third overall multi-event crown to cap off a stellar career with the Bulls. Coney accumulated 4,990 points in the seven-event competition, picking up a pair of sixth-place finishes (long jump and javelin) and seventh-place finish (800-meters) on the second day to hold off a hard-charging Jen Osborn of Akron by 158 points. Coney held the lead after the first day of the two-day event after posting season-best marks in the high jump (5-5.75, 1.67m)—tying for first—and the 100-meter hurdles (14.16), finishing second. She also placed second in the 200-meters (25.23). Besides the two outdoor heptathlon championships, Coney also won the 2006 MAC indoor penathlon title.

Sophomore sprinter Ezekiel Porter finished second in the men’s 400-meters in 47.94, just a 10th of a second behind Eastern Michigan’s Nate Blackwell (47.84). Porter also placed fourth in the 200-meter finals in 21.54.

Sophomore Dan Schichtel tied the UB school record with his fifth-place finish in the men’s 100-meter dash. Schichtel lowered his season-best mark to 10.64 and tied the mark set in 1998 by Mike Quagliata.

Alex Stamatakis earned an NCAA East Regional qualifying mark with his fifth-place showing in the shot put. Stamatakis posted a season-best with his throw of 55-2 (16.81m), bettering the qualifying distance by one centimeter.

Matt Gac finished third in the discus with a throw of 163-5 (49.82m), improving his season-best mark by nine feet, and finished fourth in the hammer throw at 180-8 (55.06m), an improvement of six feet from his previous best.

Softball

Curran’s contract not renewed; Russell named to all-region team

Head softball coach Marie Curran will not have her contract renewed for next season, Warde Manuel, director of athletics, has announced. Curran just completed her ninth season as head coach and has been UB’s only head softball coach at the Division I level.

”I want to thank Marie for everything that she has done for the softball program over the last nine years,„ Manuel said. ”She came here in a tough spot, trying to build a program from the ground up, and I commend her efforts in doing so. At this time, I feel that it is best that we move the program in another direction to achieve our goal of winning a Mid-American Championship. I speak for the whole department in wishing Marie the best.„

Curran had a 126-294 overall record over the last nine years, but in the three seasons since UB’s MAC Tournament appearance in 2005, her record was just 29-119, including 11-45 in MAC play.

Later in the week, senior Mary Russell was named to the 2008 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Mideast Region Second Team as announced by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).

Russell was one of three outfielders named to the 12-person second team after leading UB’s offense with a .317 batting average, 25 RBIs, 40 hits, nine doubles and a UB single-season record 16 stolen bases. The regional honor is the first for Russell and she is the first UB player to be recognized by the NFCA since Bree Nasti was named to the Mideast Region’s first team in 2004.

The award honors student-athletes from nine NFCA regions. Russell and the other members of each All-Region first and second team are eligible for All-America honors, which will be voted on by a selection committee and announced on Wednesday.

Tennis

WOMEN’S

Novaceanu named ITA East Senior Player of the Year

Andreea Novaceanu continued her stellar senior season as she was named the ITA East Senior Player of the Year, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced.

Novaceanu played number-one singles all season, helping to lead the Bulls to the university’s first-ever MAC Championship and its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. In the tournament, the Bulls played seventh-ranked UCLA, where Novaceanu faced the eighth-ranked player in the country, Riza Zalameda. Novaceanu took the first set from Zalameda, 6-4, and was leading in the match when play was halted. Zalameda also was named the ITA Senior Player of the Year for the West Region.

Novaceanu, who was named to the All-MAC First Team for the third time in four seasons, finished the year with a 20-11 mark in singles play. Her four-year singles record of 83-28 gives her the most wins for a singles player in UB women’s tennis history. Her 83 wins also tie her with Mike Rockman for the most singles victories in UB tennis history.

Novaceanu is the first UB women’s tennis player to be named an ITA regional senior player of the year. She and the other seven regional winners automatically qualify as finalists for the ITA National Senior Player of the Year.