University at Buffalo
3-3
Tenn.-Martin
2-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 15 | 1 |
| UT Martin | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 |
Vinny Mallaro's Cycle Leads Baseball To Series Sweep Of UT-Martin, 15-8
2/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MARTIN, TN – The University at Buffalo baseball team's bats woke up on Sunday afternoon as they used a season-high 15 hits to earn the series sweep of UT-Martin, downing the Skyhawks 15-8. Junior Vinny Mallaro had himself a career game in the win as he finished off the programs first cycle since reinstatement in 2000. Mallaro finished the game going 4-for-6 at the plate with a career-best five RBI's and two runs scored. With the win, the Bulls improved to 3-3 while the Skyhawks dropped to 2-6 on the season.
The 15 runs scored for the Bulls was their most in a game since May 11, 2012 when they put up 18 runs in a 18-3 victory over Eastern Michigan. Nine UB players scored at least one run in the game while a season-high five players earned multi-hit games. This marks the Bulls first three-game series sweep since April of 2014 when they swept the Western Michigan Broncos.
"We really swung the bats well for the first seven innings of the game today," said head coach Ron Torgalski. "We are starting to get healthy now and it was great to have Mallaro and Haefner back in the lineup this afternoon."
The Bulls jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning as Chris Kwitzer reached base on an error and advanced to second base on a passed ball. Mallaro then dug in and delivered an RBI double down the left field line. UB then extended the lead to 3-0 in the second inning as Ben Haefner notched an RBI single into right field to score Connor Regan and Bobby Sheppard hit a hard single into right to score Andrew Taft.
After UT-Martin made the score 3-2 in favor of the Bulls with a pair of runs in the third inning, Mallaro delivered again for UB as he cleared the bases with a three-RBI triple to right center field. Mallaro drove in Taft, Alex Thrower and Sheppard with his first triple of the season, making the score 6-2 in favor of UB.
The Skyhawks notched a run in the fourth to make it 6-3 but Mike Abrunzo launched his first homer of the season over the right field fence to extend the UB lead back to four, 7-3. After Charlie Sobieraski held UT-Martin scoreless in the fifth, the Bulls offense exploded for five runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach, 12-3. Mallaro started off the inning with his first homer of the season to deep center field before Taft connected on his first career home run, a three-run shot, to right field, scoring Abrunzo and Regan. Sheppard then finished off the scoring as he hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Ben Haefner from third base.
UB was able to tack on three more runs in the seventh inning to make the score 15-3. Mallaro opened the inning with a historic at bat as he became the first player to notch the cycle for the Bulls since reinstatement as he connected on a single up the middle. Ben Vey then singled and Regan was hit by a pitch to load the bases for UB. Mallaro and Vey were then able to score on back-to-back wild pitches. Haefner finished the scoring for the Bulls with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Regan from third.
UT-Martin was able to score three runs in the seventh inning and two runs in the ninth inning before Vey came in and closed the door, getting the Skyhawks batter to ground into an inning ending double play with the bases loaded.
The Buffalo offense was firing on all cylinders on Sunday in the series finale as the bottom of the UB lineup had their strongest showing of the early going. The bottom three hitters, Abrunzo, Taft and Haefner, combined to go 7-for-13 with two home runs, six RBI's and six runs scored.
Mallaro wasn't the only guy racking up the hits on Sunday as Taft had a career day for the Bulls going 3-for-6 at the plate with his first career homer, three RBI's and three runs. Haefner, Abrunzo and Thrower each recorded two hits in the win. Sheppard finished off his afternoon going 1-for-2 at the dish with three walks and two RBI's while Regan earned three walks and scored a career-high three runs in the game. As a team, the Bulls earned 11 walks and hit a season-high three homers as they swept the Skyhawks.
Sobieraski collected his first career win on the mound as he went six innings, allowing nine hits, five runs and striking out six UT-Martin batters. Sobieraski has notched six K's in both of his starts for the Bulls this season, leading the team with 12 strikeouts in 11 innings. Logan Harasta pitched two scoreless and hitless innings for the Bulls while Vey came into the game with the bases loaded in the ninth and forced an inning ending double play in his first appearance on the mound this season.
The Bulls will return to the diamond next weekend as they travel to Lexington, KT to take on the Kentucky Wildcats from the SEC. The first game of the three-game series will take place on Friday, March 4 at 4:00 pm. The two teams will then play Saturday at 2:00 pm and Sunday at 1:00 pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sobieraski, Charlie (1-1)
L: BAZZANI, Dom (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Mallaro, Vinny 1
3B: Mallaro, Vinny 1
HR: Mallaro, Vinny 1 ; Abrunzo, Mike 1 ; Taft, Andrew 1
RBI: Sheppard, Bobby 2 ; Mallaro, Vinny 5 ; Abrunzo, Mike 1 ; Taft, Andrew 3 ; Haefner, Ben 2
SF: Sheppard, Bobby 1 ; Haefner, Ben 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thrower, Alex 1 ; Sheppard, Bobby 1 ; Kwitzer, Chris 1 ; Mallaro, Vinny 2 ; Vey, Ben 1 ; Regan, Connor 3 ; Abrunzo, Mike 2 ; Taft, Andrew 3 ; Haefner, Ben 1
SB: Thrower, Alex 1
HBP: Thrower, Alex 1 ; Regan, Connor 2
Batting:
2B: GAVELLO, Nick 2 ; KERWIN, Daniel 1
3B: EDWARDS, Collin 1
HR: HILTON, Tyler 1 ; HELGREN, Ryan 1
RBI: HILTON, Tyler 3 ; EDWARDS, Collin 1 ; TAYLOR, Austin 1 ; GAVELLO, Nick 2 ; HELGREN, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: HILTON, Tyler 1 ; PRIBBLE, Nick 1 ; SHRODE, Carson 1 ; EDWARDS, Collin 2 ; HELGREN, Ryan 1 ; WESSLING, Tanner 1 ; HAUSER, Josh 1
HBP: SHRODE, Carson 1 ; EDWARDS, Collin 1
