University at Buffalo
7-14
St. Bonaventure
10-6-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 14 | 2 |
| St. Bonaventure | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
Mallaro's Grand Slam Powers Baseball Past Big Four Foe St. Bonaventure, 12-5
4/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
OLEAN, NY – The UB offense stayed hot on Wednesday afternoon as the Bulls powered past Big Four rival St. Bonaventure, 12-5, on the road. Vinny Mallaro led the way as he connected on a grand slam home run in the eighth inning to propel the Bulls to their seventh win of the season. With the win, UB improved to 7-14 overall and 2-4 in MAC play.
The UB offense continued to produce runs on Wednesday as five Bulls finished off their afternoon with multi-hit games and three Bulls finished with multi-RBI outings in the victory. However, the unsung heroes of the afternoon for the Bulls were four relief pitchers, Blair Lakso, Brandon Bentley, Ben Hartz and Mike Kaelin, who combined to pitch 4.2 innings while only allowing one hit, a bunt single.
The Bulls got on the board first in the third inning as Charlie Sobieraski reached on an error and then got into scoring position after stealing second base. After an out, Ben Haefner ripped his first triple of the season into right center field to score Sobieraski.
After the Bonnies took the 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third, UB responded quickly with three runs of their own in the fourth, all with two outs. Ben Vey singled to start the rally and then came around to score on Mike Abrunzo's first triple of the season. Sobieraski proceeded to score Abrunzo in the next at bat as he roped a double down the left field line. Justin Gonzalez then came to the plate and recorded an infield single to shortstop which platted Sobieraski.
St. Bonaventure came back again and scored two runs to tie the game at four, but the UB offense did not stop producing runs. In the top of the fifth, Bobby Sheppard opened the inning with a single and a steal to get into scoring position before Mallaro walked to give the Bulls two runners on. Chris Kwitzer dug in and connected on his team-leading third triple of the season to score a pair of runners and give UB the 6-4 edge.
The home side scored a run in the fifth inning to bring the score to 6-5 but the Bulls would outscore the Bonnies 6-0 over the final four innings to collect the victory. The Bulls scored two runs in the sixth as Gonzalez walked and Nick Sinay singled to advance Gonzalez to third base. After Sinay's 16th stolen base of the season, Haefner recorded his second RBI as he grounded out to second base to allow Gonzalez to score. Sheppard then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Sinay and make the score 8-5 in favor of the Bulls.
With the game still within reach at 8-5, Mallaro stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and made sure the Bonnies had no chance to comeback and win the game as he crushed his first career grand slam over the left field fence scoring Sheppard, Haefner and Sinay. The four RBI's gives Mallaro nine on the season and he is tied for the team lead in home runs with two.
After two scoreless innings in relief from Hartz, Kaelin took to the mound in the ninth inning and closed the door on the Bonnies bats. Kaelin struck out one batter and now has 30 strikeouts in 19.2 innings pitched this season.
Bentley picked up his first win of the season after pitching 1.2 innings and giving up no hits for the Bulls. Mallaro finished off his day at the plate going 1-for-4 with a season-high four RBI's and two runs scored while Heafner went 2-for-6 with two RBI's and a run scored in the victory.
Sinay added to his team long hitting streak, extending it to eight games while finishing 2-for-5 with two runs scored and his MAC-leading 16th stolen base. Abrunzo was able to reach base three times as he went 1-for-3 at the plate with a RBI and a run scored along with a pair of walks.
UB will return to MAC action on Saturday at 4:00 pm as they will take on the Ohio Bobcats in Butler, PA at the Kelly Automotive Park. The two teams will then conclude the three game set with a doubleheader on Sunday starting at noon.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bentley, Brandon (1-0)
L: TELLER, Drew (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Vey, Ben 1 ; Sobieraski, Charlie 1
3B: Haefner, Ben 1 ; Kwitzer, Chris 1 ; Abrunzo, Mike 1
HR: Mallaro, Vinny 1
RBI: Haefner, Ben 2 ; Sheppard, Bobby 1 ; Mallaro, Vinny 4 ; Kwitzer, Chris 2 ; Abrunzo, Mike 1 ; Sobieraski, Charlie 1 ; Gonzalez, Justin 1
SF: Sheppard, Bobby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sinay, Nick 2 ; Haefner, Ben 1 ; Sheppard, Bobby 2 ; Mallaro, Vinny 2 ; Vey, Ben 1 ; Abrunzo, Mike 1 ; Sobieraski, Charlie 2 ; Gonzalez, Justin 1
SB: Sinay, Nick 1 ; Sheppard, Bobby 1 ; Sobieraski, Charlie 1
HBP: Sinay, Nick 1
Batting:
2B: BELL, Tyler 2
RBI: JOHNSON, Thad 2 ; DUNN, Dylan 1 ; WALTER, Tyler 1
SH: PETERSON, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: PETERSON, Cole 1 ; DUNN, Dylan 1 ; BELL, Tyler 1 ; NOVENCHE, John 1 ; DELANOY, Randy 1
SB: PETERSON, Cole 1 ; WALTER, Tyler 1
HBP: NOVENCHE, John 1
