Burke Pitches Bulls to Series Win

Sunday, March 24

11 am

University at Buffalo

12-10, 0

Central Michigan

10-12, 0

Central Michigan

Buffalo

3/24/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

ROCHESTER, NY - After losing a late lead in the early game of a doubleheader against the Central Michigan Chippewas (10-12, 1-2 MAC), 4-3, junior Mike Burke pitched a three-hit shutout to help the Buffalo baseball team (12-10, 2-1 MAC) win the opening weekend of the Mid-American Conference season, with a 7-0 victory. It was the first time the Bulls have ever won the opening conference series since the program's reinstatement in 2000.

Burke had a career day, going the distance for his first career shutout and second complete game. He struck out 10 batters (five looking) and faced just three over the minimum, walking just one batter in the ninth and allowing a single hit in the third, sixth, and seventh innings. The Chippwas offense went 0-9 with runners on base and had 13 groundouts.

"Mike learned from the first two guys who pitched this weekend that you need to keep their hitters off balance, and when you're throwing your offspeed pitches for strikes its that much better," head coach Ron Torgalski said. "He was spotting up and working inside and out and forcing some bad swings."

With their pitcher in the groove, the UB offense clustered all seven of its runs in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Alex Baldock led off with a walk and moved to third after a pair of groundouts. Jon Mestas grounded to third, but the throw was off, scoring Baldock and putting Mestas on. On an ensuing pickoff attempt, the throw caromed off Mestas' helmet and got past the CMU first baseman, allowing him to go all the way around to third on the error. He would then come in on a single from Ryan Tulloch, who had a solid day in his only start of the weekend.

Up 2-0, the Bulls took advantage of more mental miscues from the Chips to put up five runs on just four hits. Jason Kanzler hit a one-out double to left, and was immediately scored on a single up the middle from Baldock. Central starter Dylan Rheault threw three wild pitches in the next at bat to allow Baldock to come all the way around to make it a 4-0 game. Two straight walks to follow would chase Rheault from the game. Mestas welcomed the reliever to the game with an RBI single, and Tulloch would clear the bases with a two-run triple to the wall in right center field for a 7-0 advantage.

The Bulls had a chance for the sweep, but blew a late lead in the morning game. Starter Anthony Magovney had trouble getting warmed up to start out the game and walked the first two batters. He responded with two straight strikeouts, but a double steal and a two-run single put the Bulls behind 2-0 right away.

Kanzler would tie the game up at 2-2 in the third, driving in Jimmy Topps with a two-run home run to left center field that was a no-doubter. It was the senior's sixth home run of the season. After that, though, the game would develop into a pitcher's dual.

Magovney and CMU starter Pat Kaminska were dominant in the middle innings, and the offenses could barely put the ball in play, let alone score runs. From the top of the fourth to the top of the seventh, the two pitchers combined to strike out nine batters.

Buffalo took back the lead in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Topps to score Richards, but Central Michigan scored two runs with two outs in the top of the eighth off of River McWilliams to earn the win.

"We stayed focused, I thought we played well enough to win (game one) but we didn't," Torgalski said. "The big thing for us is throwing strikes - defensively we're pretty good and we're going to make plays, and if you looked all week, the only time we got into trouble was when we walked guys."

The team will look to build off a successful first weekend, opening Big Four play on Tuesday against Canisius before hitting the road for three games at Western Michigan next weekend.