University at Buffalo
13-28, 6-15
Kent State
26-19, 13-8
Baseball Falls To Kent State On Senior Day, 13-7
5/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York baseball team (13-28, 6-15 MAC) was not able to hold onto a lead in the final two innings as they lost the rubber match of a three-game series to Kent State on Sunday, 13-7. The Bulls held the 4-2 lead after seven innings but a three-run eighth and an eight-run ninth inning propelled the Golden Flashes to the series clinching victory.
Senior lefty Mike McGee was able to get out of a jam early on in the first inning as he struck out a pair of Golden Flashes while not allowing a run in the inning. The Bulls were able to score first in the bottom half of the inning as Nick Sinay hit the fifth pitch of the at bat to right center field and he turned it into a double with his blazing speed. After he stole his 35th base of the season to get on third base with one out, Bobby Sheppard hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Sinay, the RBI for Sheppard was his team-leading 29th of the season.
After cruising through the first three innings, McGee ran into some trouble in the fourth as he allowed two runs on two hits in the inning, giving the Golden Flashes their first lead of the game at 2-1. UB didn't let Kent State lead for too long as Charlie Sobieraski started the inning off with a single up the middle and after a sacrifice bunt moved him into scoring position, he came around to score on a Justin Gonzalez single up the middle, tying the game at two.
In the sixth, the Bulls produced another run as Sheppard singled, stole second base and then moved over to third on a balk by the Kent State pitcher. Chris Kwitzer then dug in and hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field to score Sheppard from third, his 14th RBI of the season.
In the seventh, freshman designated hitter Sobieraski got back on track as he connected on his team-leading fourth long ball of the season, depositing the pitch over the left field fence to give UB the 4-2 lead.
Mike Kaelin took the mound in the eighth looking for another three-inning save for the Bulls but unfortunately the Golden Flashes had other plans. After a pair of walks, Conner Simonetti connected on a three-run home run over the right field wall, giving the Golden Flashes the 5-4 lead.
In the top of the ninth Kent State put the game away as they were able to cross eight runs across the plate, taking the commanding 13-4 lead into the bottom half of the inning. The Bulls responded with three quick runs in the bottom half as Sobieraski hit a deep double to center field and he then came around to score on a Sinay infield single.
After the Sinay single, second baseman Brian Dudek connected on his first career home run as he crushed the first pitch he saw over the right field wall, scoring a pair of Bulls. The Bulls rally came up short in the ninth as they fell 13-7.
McGee finished off his last home start going 5.2 innings while allowing four hits, one earned run and striking out a season-high 10 batters in the no decision. With the 10 K's, the senior set a new career-high with 52 strikeouts on the season for the Bulls.
Offensively, Sinay led the way going 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI and two runs scored while raising his average to .342 on the season. Sinay has now reached base safely in 28 straight contests and 39 of 41 games overall on the season while also notching his 16th multi-hit effort of the season. With his stolen base on Sunday, Sinay currently leads the nation with 35 steals, two shy of the program record for a season (37), and he has recorded at least one stolen base in 23 games this season.
Sobieraski had some solid at bats for the Bulls on Sunday as he finished off his impressive game going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, a home run and a RBI. The three-run effort was Sobieraski's second career three-hit game and he now leads the Bulls with four homers to go along with 16 RBI's.
Prior to the game, five UB seniors were honored as part of the Bulls Senior Day festivities. Tanner Robinson, Brandon Bentley, Gonzalez, McGee and Anthony Magovney all played their final home conference game of their UB career on Sunday.
UB returns to the diamond on Tuesday afternoon as they will take on St. Bonaventure in a doubleheader. The games are slated to start at 2:00 pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: KOPCAK, Dan (1-0)
L: Kaelin, Mike (1-3)
S: PIERCE, Josh (4)
Batting:
2B: POLEN, Sawyer 2
HR: ZALEWSKI, Zarley 1 ; SIMONETTI, Conner 1 ; REVESZ, Jeff 1
RBI: ROSA, Dylan 1 ; POLEN, Sawyer 1 ; ZALEWSKI, Zarley 3 ; SIMONETTI, Conner 3 ; REVESZ, Jeff 4
SH: REVESZ, Jeff 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ROSA, Dylan 1 ; BECKNER, Zach 2 ; POLEN, Sawyer 3 ; ZALEWSKI, Zarley 2 ; MONNOT, Tommy 1 ; SIMONETTI, Conner 2 ; REVESZ, Jeff 1 ; HAWKINS, Reilly 1
SB: ROSA, Dylan 1 ; BECKNER, Zach 2 ; POLEN, Sawyer 4 ; ZALEWSKI, Zarley 1 ; MONNOT, Tommy 1
CS: ROSA, Dylan 1
HBP: POLEN, Sawyer 1
Batting:
2B: Sinay, Nick 1 ; Sobieraski, Charlie 1
HR: Dudek, Brian 1 ; Sobieraski, Charlie 1
RBI: Sinay, Nick 1 ; Dudek, Brian 2 ; Sheppard, Bobby 1 ; Kwitzer, Chris 1 ; Sobieraski, Charlie 1 ; Gonzalez, Justin 1
SH: Sheppard, Bobby 1 ; Machi, Mitchell 1
SF: Sheppard, Bobby 1 ; Kwitzer, Chris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sinay, Nick 2 ; Dudek, Brian 1 ; Sheppard, Bobby 1 ; Sobieraski, Charlie 3
SB: Sinay, Nick 1 ; Sheppard, Bobby 1
HBP: Mallaro, Vinny 1
