MURRAY, Ky. – The University at Buffalo baseball team (2-2, 0-0 MAC) was able to hang on to a 12-10 victory over the previously unbeaten Murray State Racers on Friday night on the road. The Buffalo bats woke up on Friday as five UB players collected at least one RBI, led by senior Chris Kwitzer who notched a season-high three RBI in the victory.
After starter Alec Tuohy cruised to a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the first, the Bulls got on the board in the top of the second inning. Chris Kwitzer started the rally with a double off the left center field fence before Brian Wasilewski connected on his first career homer to bring Kwitzer around to make it 2-0. Andrew Taft then singled to center on the first pitch of his at bat and he scored to make it 3-0 on Brian Dudek’s triple into the gap in left center. Phillip Tomasulo earned a walk and on a failed pickoff attempt to first, Dudek scored from third and allowed Tomasulo to advance to third base with two outs.
The Racers wasted no time getting on the board in the bottom half of the third inning as they were able to string together four straight singles and five total in the inning to make it 5-3 in favor of the Bulls heading into the fourth.
Buffalo had another big inning in the fifth as Ben Haefner and Vinny Mallaro notched back-to-back singles to bring Kwitzer to the dish. Kwitzer responded with a deep home run, his first of the season, over the left field wall to bring across three runs and give the Bulls the 8-3 lead.
Murray State got a pair of runs back in the bottom half of the fifth inning as Brandon Gutzler connected on a two-run homerun to deep left field, making the score 8-5 in favor of the Bulls.
The Bulls responded quickly in the top half of the sixth inning with three runs of their own to make the score 11-5. Haefner opened the inning with his third hit of the game and he came around to score on Mallaro’s double to deep left field. Mallaro also scored on the play as the Racers threw the ball out of play at third, allowing the runner to score. After Kwitzer connected on his first triple of the season, the Murray State pitcher walked three straight batters as Dudek earned the RBI as he walked with the bases full to force home Kwitzer.
The home team brought the game within reach in the bottom half of the sixth inning as they were able to connect on four straight hits, three doubles and a single, as they collected three runs to make it 11-8 in favor of the Bulls. The three-run inning forced Tuohy from the mound as Ben Vey entered with no outs and a runner on second. The Racers scored one run off of Vey as he closed out the inning with a deep fly out as UB entered the seventh with the 11-9 lead.
Haefner made the score 12-9 in favor of the Bulls in the top of the seventh as he ripped a RBI double down the left field line to score Alex Thrower from first base. The hit for Haefner was his season-high fourth of the game.
The Racers drew within two runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning as Justin Perkins connected on a solo home run to right field, making it 12-10 in favor of the Bulls. Vey got the next three outs to send the Bulls to the ninth inning with the lead.
After Vey walked the first batter in the bottom of the ninth, Buffalo closer Logan Harasta entered the contest looking for his first save of the season. Harasta got the first out of the inning via a foul out to Brennan and the second out on a ground ball to shortstop before striking out the final batter of the game as he earned his first save of the season.
The Buffalo bats got back on track on Friday afternoon against the Murray State Racers as the Bulls collected a season-high 14 hits with seven different hitters collecting at least one hit. Haefner had a career day at the dish for the Bulls as he tied a career-high with four hits as he went 4-for-6 with two RBI and two runs scored. Kwitzer nearly hit for the cycle on Friday as he finished off his game going 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored. The senior hit his first home run of the season to go along with a double and a triple, falling just a single shy of his first career cycle.
Wasilewski was able to collect his first career home run in the second inning as he notched two RBI while Dudek finished off his game going 2-for-3 with two RBI, a run scored and two walks. Mallaro broke through with two hits, two runs and a RBI in the win over the Racers.
Tuohy was able to collect his second win of the season despite not pitching his best game as he went 5.0 innings while allowing 14 hits, nine runs and striking out just one batter. Vey was solid out of the Bullpen once again as he went 3.0 innings and allowed two hits, one run and struck out two batters.
Buffalo will return to the diamond on Saturday at 2:00 pm as they take on the Racers in the second game of a three-game series. Junior Charlie Sobieraski will pitch for the Bulls.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
