Baseball

UB 15, Niagara 4
Kent State 7, UB 5
Kent State 13, UB 2

Athletes of the Week

Eric Huber of the baseball team was 4-for-6 with four runs scored and two doubles in UB's 15-4 victory at Niagara. Huber added another double in the opener of UB's doubleheader at Kent State to key a sixth-inning rally. For the season, the designated hitter and outfielder is batting .259 with 15 hits and 10 runs scored. Breanne Nasti of the softball team went 5-for-5 in UB's doubleheader split against Western Michigan and went 6-for-8 with three RBIs in the three-game series. She hit two home runs and added a pair of doubles over the weekend to raise her slugging percentage to a team-best .867. Nasti, a sophomore outfielder, raised her batting average to .422 to take the team lead in the category.

UB used five-run outbursts in the third and eighth innings to storm past Niagara, 15-4, in a non-conference game Thursday at Niagara's Bobo Field. The 15 runs scored by the Bulls are the most this season. The Bulls capitalized on seven Niagara fielding errors and six unearned runs off of the Purple Eagle pitching staff.

Infielders Bryan Sanchez and Adrian Daniels each drove in two runs and scored once. Designated hitter Eric Huber was 4-for-6, including a pair of doubles, and scored four runs. Andrew Wengert had a pinch-hit, three-run single. Daniels, Tim Sova and Brandon DiCesare also added two hits apiece. DiCesare extended his consecutive game hit streak to 11.

The Bulls were swept Sunday by Kent State in a Mid-American Conference doubleheader at Gene Michael Field. UB dropped the opener, 7-5, as its final-inning rally fell short. The Bulls then lost game two, 13-2, as the Golden Flashes powered five home runs in the contest.

Softball

Western Michigan 2, UB 1
UB 2, Western Michigan 1 (12)
Western Michigan 6, UB 4

The visiting Western Michigan Broncos got a few key hits and a strong pitching performance from junior Wendy Cannon to hold on for a 2-1 win over UB in MAC softball action at the UB Softball Stadium on Saturday.

A two-out single down the left field line by senior Holly Seales drove in both of Western Michigan's runs in the top of the third inning. The Broncos held Buffalo scoreless until a leadoff home run by sophomore Breanne Nasti gave the Bulls a chance in the seventh. Sophomore Allison Round followed Nasti's homer with a single through the left side of the infield, but the Broncos held on to retire the next three batters and end the game.

UB picked up its first MAC victory of the season on Sunday, thanks to a wild pitch in the bottom of the 12th inning before dropping the second game of the doubleheader to the Broncos. The Bulls took game one by a 2-1 score and the Broncos held on for a 6-4 win in game two.

Tennis

Men's

Toledo 6, UB 1
Northern Illinois 6, UB 1

UB dropped 6-1 decisions at Toledo and Northern Illinois in MAC competition over the weekend.

Freshman Nick Zieziula won both of his singles matches over the weekend at fourth singles to up his individual mark to 14-7.

Women's

Western Michigan 7, UB 0
Northern Illinois 6, UB 1

UB dropped a pair of home matches to MAC rivals Western Michigan (7-0) and Northern Illinois (6-1). The Bulls' lone victory against Northern Illinois was by default at sixth singles.

Track and Field

Women take first, men finish fourth at McDonald's Invitational

With a pair of meets in North Carolina under their belts, the men's and women's track teams returned north to compete in the McDonald's Invitational hosted by Ohio University. The women took first place among nine schools, scoring 209 points, while the men placed fourth among nine with 97 points as Eastern Michigan took the meet with 241points.

The women had six first-place finishers in the 20-event meet. Allison Laske won the 800 meters in 2:13.78. Christina Keck took the 1500 meters in 4:40.93. Keck also placed fourth behind Laske in the 800 meters in 2:16.87. Hollie Rhodes won the 5000 meters in 17:45.40. Laura Olson was victorious in the pole vault at 11-0 (3.35m). Sarah Fletcher took the hammer throw at 179-11 (54.84m), placed second in the discus at 141-7 (43.15m) and third in the javelin at 107-10 (32.87m). The Bulls also claimed the top spot in the triple jump as Biaunca McFarland won at 38-10.50 (11.85m).

In the men's meet, UB's 4x400 relay team of Pete Otovic, Bryan Weinstein, Uchechukwa Uche and Joe Clark was victorious, taking the race in 3:17.55 for the lone win by the Bulls.

Crew

Teams see strong competition in Boston, sweep Mercyhurst

The historic Charles River in Boston was the setting for the UB crew team's competition against three other teams on Saturday afternoon. Fair weather, but cold temperatures of about 35 degrees at race time, along with variable winds greeted the rowers. Competing against the Bulls were squads from Dartmouth, Boston College and the host school, Northeastern.

UB's novice eight team placed third in a time of 7:31.4, well behind the top two finishers, Dartmouth (7:12.9) and Northeastern (7:14.2). The Bulls did finish 20 seconds ahead of fourth-place Boston College in the four-team race. The Bulls' varsity eight squad placed fourth among the four teams in 7:23.6. Northeastern won the race in 6:57.4, followed by Boston College (7:01.2) and Dartmouth (7:08.7).

The Bulls then swept a home meeting against Mercyhurst. The varsity eight squad won in the closest finish of the three races, taking the 2000-meter Erie Canal course in 6:54.6 to Mercyhurst's 6:55.8. UB's varsity four (7:50.9) and novice eight (7:02.6) also were victorious.