University at Buffalo
7-20, 2-1
Bowling Green
4-16, 0-3
Strong Pitching Leads Bulls To Sweep Of Bowling Green
4/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
BOWLING GREEN, OH – The University at Buffalo softball team used great pitching and timely hitting as they took a pair of games from Bowling Green on Saturday afternoon to improve to 3-1 in the MAC. The contest was scheduled to be just a single game today, but was changed to a doubleheader due to impending weather in the Bowling Green area for Sunday.
In the opener, the Bulls and Falcons engaged in a defensive battle as neither team was able to cross the plate over the first four innings of the game. In fact, the Bulls were still looking for their first hit in the game when they erupted to put up a three-spot in the top of the fifth.
Alexandra Bejarano led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a one-out single from Alyssa Ward. Both runners would come home to score on a double to left center by Andi Saucier, who would advance to third on the play. She came home to score on a sacrifice fly from Sammi Gallardo.
That is all the offense UB would need as freshman Tori Speckman pitched a fantastic game, going the distance for her third win of the season. Speckman struck out seven batters and walked just one in the shutout.
Speckman again took the mound for the second game and put forth another stellar performance. The Bulls got on the scoreboard first, putting up five runs in the top of the second. Jessica Griffin reached on an error to lead off the inning and was replaced on the bases by Lindsay Hampton. Back-to-back singles by Ward and Saucier loaded the bases for UB, and another error by Bowling Green would score two runs for the Bulls. Freshman Tori Pettine was the next batter and she doubled to score Saucier and Gallardo. Pettine would come around to score on a ground out by Kelli Gleiser.
The Bulls added another four runs in the top of the fourth inning, again using a poor Falcon defensive effort to its advantage. With one out, Pettine and fellow freshman Holly Luciano had back-to-back singles. Gleiser would reach on an error by the pitcher, which scored Pettine and moved Luciano to third as Gleiser advanced to second on the error. Both came in to score on a single to left field by Bejarano.
The Falcons got on the board for the first time all day with a run in the bottom of the fourth to pull within 8-1, but UB answered in the top of the fifth as Ward singled down the right field line, using an error by the right fielder to come all the way home, putting the Bulls up 9-1.
Speckman improved her record to 4-7 on the season as she struck out three and allowed just three hits in the complete game. Ward went a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate, while Pettine added two hits, two runs batted in and two runs scored.
The Bulls will head to Niagara on Wednesday before its home opener this Friday. The game against the Purple Eagles is scheduled for 4:00 pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Speckman, Tori (3-7)
L: LINES (3-4)
Batting:
2B: Waldron, Kristin 1 ; Saucier, Andi 1
RBI: Saucier, Andi 2 ; Gallardo, Sammi 1
SF: Gallardo, Sammi 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bejarano, Alexandra 1 ; Ward, Alyssa 1 ; Saucier, Andi 1
CS: Luciano, Holly 1
Batting:
SH: ARNEY, L 1
Base Running:
SB: PROEHL 1 ; BERGER 1
CS: ARNEY, L 1
HBP: STRATTON 1
