Canisius Defeats Bulls In Midweek Action, 9-5

Tuesday, March 22

3:15 pm

University at Buffalo

6-10

Canisius

6-13

Buffalo

Canisius

Canisius Defeats Bulls In Midweek Action, 9-5

3/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo baseball team fell on the road at crosstown rival Canisius on Tuesday afternoon at the Demske Sports Complex, 9-5. Despite just allowing three earned runs by the UB pitching staff, the Bulls fall to 6-10 overall on the year.

The Bulls got on the board early in the first inning as Bobby Sheppard earned a walk to open the game and he was moved over to second by Ben Haefner who grounded out to first. After a wild pitch moved Sheppard to third, Mike Abrunzo stepped in and hit a deep fly out to center field to score Sheppard and give the Bulls the 1-0 lead. Vinny Mallaro then earned a walk and scored from first base on Chris Kwitzer's second double of the season down the left field line. The RBI for Kwitzer was his team-leading 10th of the season.

The Griffs responded quickly in the bottom half of the first as they were able to score three runs and take the 3-2 lead. After a pair of walks opened the inning, the Griffs earned a single, an UB error and a wild pitch as they scored three runners, all unearned.

The Bulls fought back in the second inning with the tying run as Alex Thrower opened the inning with a single to center and a wild pitch moved him to second. After a ground out, Haefner plated Thrower with a single down the left field line, tying the game at three.

The Griffs put up a four spot in the bottom of the third inning as the Bulls defense and pitching struggled. Canisius had two hits and turned in four runs to take the 7-3 lead into the fourth inning.

The Bulls were able to get back into the game in the eighth inning as they plated a pair of runners. Kwitzer walked to start the inning and he was moved over to second after a Billy Hartford single up the middle. The Griffs then had back-to-back wild pitches to score Kwitzer from third base before Thrower legged out an infield single to score Hartford, making the score 7-5 in favor of the home team.

The Griffs didn't let the Bulls get any closer as they added a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the game away. After Abrunzo hit a single and Mallaro earned a hit by pitch, the Bulls went 1-2-3 in the final inning and fell 9-5.

Taft and Thrower each collected two hits while Haefner, Abrunzo and Kwitzer each knocked in a run in the loss. Mallaro and Abrunzo each extended their streak of reaching base to 14 straight games in the defeat.

Andrew White earned his first career start on the mound for the Bulls and he allowed four hits, seven runs and just one earned run while striking out a pair of Griffs. Logan Harasta continued his dominance as he pitched 2.1 hitless innings and struck out two batters as he lowered his ERA to 1.20 on the year in nine appearances. Making just his third appearance on the hump, Ben Vey had a strong out for UB as he went two scoreless innings, striking out a career-high four batters.

The Bulls will return to the diamond this weekend as they open up Mid-American Conference action with a three-game set against Toledo. The first game of the series will take place on Friday at 3:00 pm.