Bulls fall to Canisius; drop four to Bowling Green

UB opened the week by hosting Canisius in Canisius' Demske Complex. UB was considered the home team for the game that originally was scheduled for Dunn Tire Park. After building a 7-3 lead, the Bulls fell to the Griffs, 8-7, as Canisius pushed across a pair of runs in the eighth inning.

From there, the Bulls traveled to Bowling Green, Ohio, for a weekend MAC series against the Falcons. The Bulls dropped all four contests, 16-7, 23-10, 14-1 and 24-13, with the teams combining to hit 28 home runs in the series.

Athletes of the Week

Bryan Sanchez of the baseball team tied Marty Cerny's school record for career home runs at 17. The sophomore hit three in UB's Mid-American Conference series at Bowling Green, including a pair in the opener. Sanchez went 6-of-16 at the plate in the four-game series, driving in nine runs and scoring six times. The third baseman leads the Bulls this season with six homers, 27 runs batted in and 19 walks while hitting .379, second on the squad. Jen Wong of the women's tennis team scored UB's first MAC singles victory with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Akron's Sara Hirschy. The win helped propel the Bulls to their first MAC win, defeating the Zips, 5-2. Wong also combined with Kendra Pyke for an 8-4 doubles win over Hirschy and Melissa Emich. Wong missed the Bulls' fall season due to shoulder surgery.

Softball

UB earns first MAC win

UB held off a late rally by Western Michigan to earn a 6-4 win over the Broncos in Kalamazoo, Mich., its first win ever in the MAC. The Bulls were led by senior Kim Lawrence and freshmen Breanne Nasti and Allison Round, who combined for nine of Buffalo's 11 hits on the afternoon. The Bulls are competing in their inaugural season in the MAC in softball.

The Bulls got out to an early 2-0 lead, scoring a run in each of the first and second innings. Round led off the game with a walk and came around to score on a double by Nasti. Round then doubled with two outs in the second inning to score sophomore Jessica Kensy, who reached base on an error. Nasti led off the Bulls' fifth inning with her second double of the game, and crossed the plate on a single by Lawrence after advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Jennifer Moore. UB then doubled its three-run lead to 6-0 in the sixth, with Round hitting a triple to drive in Kensy and Nasti following with a two-run home run, her eighth round-tripper of the season.

The Broncos, who were held to just two hits in their first five at-bats, threatened late in the game, scoring two runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh, but the Bulls held on for the much-deserved victory. Freshman Heather Robbins went the distance on the mound, allowing eight hits and earning her third win of the year. Round and Nasti both finished 3-for-3 from the plate with two and three RBIs, respectively, while Lawrence was 3-for-4 with one RBI on the afternoon.

UB split its final two games of the three-game series at Western Michigan, dropping the opener by a 3-2 score before winning the nightcap by a 5-4 score.

Outdoor Track

Women place second, men take third in McDonald's Invitational

The Bulls' track squads met up with some of their MAC rivals Saturday at Ohio University's McDonald's Invitational. The UB women placed second in a five-team field with 188.50 points to the host Bobcats' 297.50. The UB men were third among six teams with 119 points, finishing behind MAC foes Eastern Michigan (273.50) and Ohio (154.50).

Two UB women notched school records at the meet, both improving on marks they set earlier this season. Laura Olson broke her pole vault mark, winning the event at 11-6 (3.51m). Faith Thompson won the shot put with a toss of 42-10.50 (13.07m), bettering her school record by more than a foot. Both freshmen had set the previous school records at the season-opening Seahawk Invitational.

Hollie Rhodes won the 3,000 steeplechase in both a UB and meet record time of 11:49.66.

Other winners for the UB women included Christina Keck in the 1,500 meters (4:52.21), Katie Scott in the 400 hurdles (1:03.81) and Biaunca McFarland in the triple jump (40-4.25, 12.30m). The 4x400 relay team also took first in 3:51.65.

For the men, Kamau Halim took the triple jump with a leap of 50-8.75 (16.46m), while Noah Burroughs won the long jump at 22-8.50 (6.92m).

Also earning first-place finishes were Mike Commisso in the 400 meters (48.71), Adam Smith in the discus (159-8, 48.67m), Keith Gentes in the hammer (175-2, 53.39m) and Bryan Lundy in the javelin (184-10, 56.34m).

Tennis

Men's

UB 6, St. Francis of Pennsylvania 1

UB scored a 6-1 win over St. Francis of Pennsylvania in the team's only action of the week. The squad now is 12-3 overall and 0-2 in MAC action. The Bulls took the first, second and third singles matches to propel them to the victory.

Women's

UB 5, Akron 2

The UB program claimed its first-ever MAC victory with a 5-2 win over Akron in the Village Glen Tennis Center in Williamsville. The Bulls notched wins at first, fourth, fifth and sixth singles, and at second and third doubles.

UB won by default at third doubles and at sixth singles to start the match.

The remaining doubles were split. Akron's first-doubles duo of Arianna Rojas-Serpa and Karyn Ebelberger defeated sophomore Karen Maynard and junior Shani Amarasinghe by a score of 9-7. Juniors Jennifer Wong and Kendra Pyke secured the doubles point for the Bulls with an 8-4 victory over Sara Hirschy and Melissa Emich.

After the forfeit at sixth singles, UB closed out the victory with wins in three of the five remaining singles matches.