UB splits four-game series with Mt. St. Mary

UB spent the weekend in Emmitsburg, Md., with a four-game series against Mt. St. Mary, a team the Bulls had beaten once during the Florida swing the previous week. The Bulls and Mountaineers split the series, with each squad picking up two wins.

UB fell in the opener on Saturday, 12-8, but rebounded to take the nightcap, 7-1, on Tyler Balentine's three-hitter. On Sunday, the Bulls dropped an 8-7 decision, but rallied in the second contest to win, 7-6, in nine innings.

The Bulls opened the first game against the Mountaineers slowly, as Mt. St. Mary shelled Bulls' starting pitcher John Sullivan in the first inning and jumped out to a 9-2 lead. Senior Jeff Robertson relieved Sullivan and went the rest of the way on the hill. The Bulls closed the gap to 9-8 in the third inning, but could not get any closer.

In the second contest, it was all Balentine as he scattered just three hits, allowing the lone score on a fifth-inning home run while striking out six to notch his first win of the year. Balentine got help offensively from Mike Flaherty, who had a pair of RBIs, and Bryan Sanchez and Brandon DiCesare who had run-scoring doubles in the game.

On Sunday, the Bulls jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the opener as Eric Huber led the offensive attack with three hits and a pair of RBIs. The Mountaineers, however, rallied for three runs in the sixth and scored four more in the seventh to take the 8-7 decision.

In the weekend's final contest, it was the Bulls who rallied. After spotting the Mountaineers a 6-1 lead after two innings, UB buckled down, scoring once in the third on a DiCesare RBI single and three times in the sixth when Rob Golemba scored on a Sanchez sacrifice fly and Joe Todoro doubled, plating two runs to make the score 6-5 after six innings.

The Bulls knotted the contest when pinch-hitter Scott Gruver smacked his first homer of the season, sending the game into extra innings.

In the top of the ninth, the Bulls pushed across the winning run when Adrian Daniels walked and took second on Golemba's sacrifice. Sova then plated Daniels with the game-winner on a single to give the Bulls the 7-6 victory.

Huber led the Bulls' hitting attack, going 8-for-15 with four runs scored and six RBIs. Golemba was 6-for-15, with seven runs scored from his leadoff position. For the year, Huber, who missed all of the 2000 season with an ACL injury, leads the Bulls with a .440 batting average while riding a six-game hitting streak.

On the mound, Leslie lowered his ERA to a team-best 1.17 with his outing in Sunday's finale. Robertson leads the staff with 14 strikeouts, while Balentine, the team leader in innings pitched with 17.1, and Anthony Puccia each have 13 strikeouts.

Athletes of the Week

Tyler Balentine of the baseball team pitched a complete-game three-hitter to notch his first win of the season in a 7-1 victory over Mt. St. Mary. Balentine surrendered just one run on a home run by Burt Stormes and struck out six in the seven-inning gem. The victory gave the Bulls a split in Saturday's doubleheader with the Mountaineers. The sophomore leads the Bulls' pitching staff in innings pitched at 17.1 and is tied for second with 13 strikeouts. Breanne Nasti of the softball team was named to the Ohio State Invitational All-Tournament team after leading the Bulls to a third-place finish. Nasti turned in a 4-for-5 performance with three doubles and a home run in UB's 13-2 win over Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) in the consolation final. She also had a triple and a pair of RBIs in UB's 9-7 loss to Cleveland State. Her seven home runs this season already have set the UB single-season record.

Softball

UB takes third place in Buckeye Invitational

UB finished in third place at the Ohio State Buckeye Invitational held in Columbus over the weekend, led by sophomore Jennifer Moore and freshman Breanne Nasti, both of whom were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Bulls opened the tournament with a 6-0 loss to Ohio State, with Moore accounting for UB's only hit of the game-a single in the top of the sixth inning. The Bulls then dropped a 9-7 decision to Cleveland State after coming back to tie the score at 7-7 in the sixth inning. Nasti led the UB attack with a triple and two RBIs, and sophomore Kelly Malone hit her first home run of the season. Senior Kim Lawrence had two hits and scored three runs in the loss.

The Bulls lost their third game of the tournament to IUPUI, 9-0, with Moore, Laura Gilcrist and Lisa Cox each recording a single.

In their semifinal matchup, the Bulls lost to Ohio State again, this time by a 9-1 score. Freshman Allison Round hit a double, and Malone knocked in UB's only run of the game in the top of the second inning to get the Bulls out to a 1-0 lead. The Buckeyes, however, countered with 16 hits and 10 runs during the remainder of the game to advance to the championship.

Buffalo faced IUPUI in the consolation game and came away with a third-place finish in the tournament, thanks to a 13-2 win. Nasti turned in a 4-for-5 performance with three doubles and a home run, and Moore was 3-for-4. Senior Stacee Madden was 2-for-3 from the plate, and freshman Heather Robbins earned her second win of the year on the mound.

Wrestling

UB's four wrestlers were eliminated from competition in the second day of the NCAA Championships held in Iowa City, Iowa. The Bulls finished with a 3-8 overall tournament record and 3.5 team points.

Senior Shawn Kegel droppped his consolation match to Marat Tomaev from Penn State by a 7-4 decision. Tomaev had defeated Central Michigan's Jordan Webster in the first round of the wrestlebacks to advance. Kegel finished his season with a 29-6 record and completes his UB career with a 59-16 career record.

Junior Dave Guarino dropped a 10-0 decision to the third seed at 165 pounds, Steve Blackford from Arizona State. Guarino finished the season with a 21-16 record, while his career record now is 42-30. He's UB's only NCAA qualifier who will return next season.