Baseball Collects Second Straight Road Victory At Toledo, 6-4

Saturday, March 26

1 pm

University at Buffalo

8-10, 2-0

Toledo

3-20-1, 0-2

Buffalo

Toledo

Baseball Collects Second Straight Road Victory At Toledo, 6-4

3/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

TOLEDO, OH – The University at Buffalo baseball team stayed unbeaten in Mid-American Conference play on Saturday afternoon as they defeated the Toledo Rockets by the score of 6-4. Vinny Mallaro smacked a two-run home run for the second straight game and Mike Kaelin closed the door in the ninth to earn the save as the Bulls improved to 8-10 overall and 2-0 in MAC play.

"This was a great team win," said head coach Ron Torgalski. "We made the big plays when we needed to. It's always nice to win a road series but we can't be satisfied with two wins, we need to come out focused and ready to play tomorrow afternoon."

The Rockets got on the board in the opening inning as Dalton Bollinger singled down the left field line to score the runner from second base. The Bulls didn't waste much time responding as they were able to take the 2-1 lead in the second inning. Kyle Brennan, Brian Dudek and Alex Thrower all earned walks and Bobby Sheppard connected on a single down the right field line to score Brennan from third and tie the game. Two batters later, Mike Abrunzo worked a walk to collect his 10^th RBI of the season, scoring Thrower from third.

After a couple scoreless innings, the loudest hit of the game came in the fifth inning off the bat of Vinny Mallaro. After Abrunzo singled to center field to start the inning, Mallaro dug in and crushed a two-run homer over the left field fence, giving the Bulls the 4-1 lead. The homer was Mallaro's team-leading fourth of the season and second in as many days.

The Bulls added another run in the sixth inning as Thrower earned a walk and advanced to second after a Bobby Sheppard sacrifice bunt. Thrower then came around to score on a throwing error by the catcher, making the score 5-1 in favor of the Bulls.

UB starter Charlie Sobieraski got into trouble in the bottom of the seventh inning after getting the first two outs of the inning, the sophomore walked three straight batters before getting pulled for closer Mike Kaelin. Kaelin came in and allowed back-to-back singles to allow the Rockets to score three runs in the inning and make the score 5-4 in favor of UB.

The Bulls responded with a run of their own in the eighth inning with two outs. Abrunzo earned a walk to start the rally and Mallaro followed with a single to left field. Chris Kwitzer then stepped in and crushed a double to deep left field to score Eddie Edwards III, who pinch ran for Abrunzo. The RBI for Kwitzer was his 12^th of the season.

Kaelin took to the mound in the eighth and mowed down the Rockets before closing out his fifth save of the season with three straight strikeouts in the ninth to close the door on a comeback for Toledo.

Mallaro powered the Bulls to victory once again as he finished 2-for-4 with his fourth home run and a pair of RBI's. The junior now has a team-high 17 RBI's on the season and has reached base in a career-best 16 straight games. Abrunzo continued his great start to his senior campaign as he went 2-for-3 with a RBI, a run and a pair of walks as he also extended his reaching base streak to a career-best 16 straight games in the win.

The Bulls had five players earn two walks in the game, including Thrower who finished with a team-high two runs scored. As a team, UB earned 12 walks while leaving 12 runners on base.

Sobieraski earned his fourth win of the season as he went 6.2 innings while allowing four hits, four runs and striking out two batters. Kaelin came in and earned another multi-inning save for the Bulls as he finished the game going 2.1 innings and struck out five Toledo batters.

The Bulls and Rockets will return to Scott Park on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm for the final game of the three-game series. Shawn Dubin (0-1, 6.17 ERA) will toe the bump for the Bulls.