Purple Eagles Ride Opening Inning to Win

Tuesday, April 23

3 pm

University at Buffalo

21-17

Niagara

13-27

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Niagara	6	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	9	13	1
Buffalo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	9	2

Purple Eagles Ride Opening Inning to Win

4/23/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

BUFFALO, NY - Bolstered by a six-run first inning, the Niagara Purple Eagles (13-27) beat the UB (21-17) baseball team 9-3 Tuesday afternoon. Thomas Richards led the offense with three hits, including a two-run home run, but the Buffalo bats were uncharacteristically quiet for the opening innings of the game.

The first inning was a rough one for UB starter Cory Folk. The junior lefty walked the first batter of the game, then allowed six straight hits. The Eagles wound up with seven hits total in the first inning, scoring six runs to stake an early lead. After adding another run in the top of the third, Folk's day was done.

Dan Ginader pitched a strong game in relief, allowing two unearned runs over four innings while striking out three batters and walking none. Tyler Wilson pitched through two outs in the ninth, and Brandon Bentley threw a hitless ninth inning.

Offensively, the Bulls were impatient, drawing only one walk against a pitching staff that came into the day with nearly as many walks as strikeouts through its first 39 games of the season. Freshman Nick Sinay joined Richards as the only Bulls with multiple hits, as he beat out a pair of infield singles. Richards has been heating up over the past nine games, batting .414 with three home runs over that stretch.

He drove in Jamie Jiron with a towering shot to right field in the bottom of the ninth to make it a 9-3 game, after Jason Kanzler opened the team's scoring in the eighth inning with a screaming double down the third base line to score Sinay all the way from first base.

The team is scheduled to play at St. Bonaventure tomorrow, though forecasted showers already threaten to postpone the game a third time. The scheduled first pitch in Olean will be 3 pm.