Bulls Split Closing Day At FAU Tournament

Sunday, March 13

9 am

University at Buffalo

11-13

Hofstra

3-13

Buffalo

Florida Atlantic

Bulls Split Closing Day At FAU Tournament

3/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BOCA RATON, FL – The University at Buffalo softball team used a late-game comeback against Florida Atlantic to split its two games at the FAU Tournament on Sunday. The win snaps a seven-game losing streak for the Bulls.

The Bulls played the host Owls in their final game of the tournament, but early on it looked as though UB would be in for a long afternoon as Florida Atlantic got off to a quick start scoring three runners in the bottom of the first against starter Holly Johnson.

The Bulls rallied to pick up one in the top of the second, producing a run with two outs. Freshman Tori Pettine and senior Alex Bejarano provided back-to-back singles to put runners at first and second as Kelly Cummings responded with a single, driving in Pettine for her first RBI of the season.

The Bulls exploded for three runs in the top of the sixth as Bejarano highlighted the inning with a two-run double. The inning started as freshman Sammi Gallardo got on base with a one-out single. A fielder's choice retired Gallardo at second, but gave UB a runner at first in Lindsay Hampton with two outs. Pettine would reach base on an error by the shortstop, moving Hampton to second. Both players moved up a base on a wild pitch and then came in to score on Bejarano's shot down the leftfield line. Bejarano would come in to score the go-ahead run on the next at-bat as Cummings reached base on an error by the shortstop.

Johnson pitched out of trouble all afternoon as she struck out 11 batters to pick up her second win of the year. The 11^th strikeout was her most important as it ended the game with runners at second and third.

UB recorded a season-high 11 hits, led by three from Bejarano. Gallardo and junior Kristin Waldron each had multi-hit games with two apiece.

In the opener, the Bulls ran into a tough Hofstra team, falling 6-0. UB managed just three hits in the contest, but kept things close until the Pride scored four runs in the top of the sixth. Hofstra began the game with two runs in the first off of starter Tori Speckman. The Bulls managed to put runners on in the second and fourth before Hofstra scored four runs in the sixth off of junior Haylee Land. UB picked up one more hit on a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh.

Speckman picked up the loss for the Bulls, pitching 2.2 innings.

The Bulls will remain in Florida this week, playing two mid-week games on Wednesday. The Bulls will face Purdue at 2:30 pm and Florida-Gulf Coast at 4:45 pm.