HARRISONBURG, Va. – Behind a season-high three home runs, the University at Buffalo baseball team (4-3, 0-0 MAC) collected their second straight win as the offense lifted them to a 13-8 road victory over the James Madison Dukes on Friday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park. Ben Haefner and Brian Dudek each connected on their first homers of the season while they both collected a season-best three RBI in the win.
The Bulls had a solid day at the plate on Friday as all nine batters collected at least one hit while seven UB players scored at least one run. As a team, the Bulls are averaging 10 runs/game over their last four games.
“It was another good day at the plate for us,” said head coach Ron Torgalski. “Every guy in the lineup had a hit and we scored in seven different innings. We kept adding to the lead and the runs in the eighth and ninth were huge in today’s victory.”
The Bulls wasted no time getting on the board in the first inning on Friday as Alex Thrower earned a walk and Ben Haefner connected on his first home run of the season, a two-run shot, to bring Thrower around. Vinny Mallaro and Chris Kwitzer then connected on back-to-back singles before Kyle Brennan brought Mallaro around to score as he hit a double to deep right center. Brian Wasilewski closed out the scoring in the first inning as he notched a RBI ground out to shortstop that scored Kwitzer from third.
The Dukes responded nicely in the bottom half of the first inning as they got back within one, 4-3. With a pair of base runners on, Zach Tondi stepped up and connected on a 3-run homer to right center field.
Brian Dudek led off the top of the second inning with his first homer of the season and second of his career to give the Bulls the 5-3 edge through two innings. The Bulls then added another two runs in the third inning as Kwitzer and Brennan each earned walks before coming around to score on a James Madison error.
Zach Tondi took matters into his own hands in the bottom of the third inning as he connected on another 3-run homer to bring the Dukes within one, 7-6. James Madison opened the bottom half of the fourth inning with a solo homer from Mike Sciorra to tie the game, 7-7.
The Bulls broke the tie in the fifth inning as they put a pair of runs on the board to take the 9-7 lead. Kwitzer walked and Brennan singled before Wasilewski brought in Kwitzer with a RBI single to right field. Dudek then collected a RBI sacrifice fly to center field to score Brennan from third.
Haefner extended the Buffalo lead to three, 10-7, as he grounded out to second base to score Alex Thrower after the senior led off the inning with a triple to deep center field.
The Dukes came right back and produced a run in the bottom half of the sixth inning to force Buffalo starter Alec Tuohy from the mound. James Madison earned a walk and back-to-back singles to score a run and make it 10-8 in favor of the Bulls. Ben Vey then came in to pitch for the Bulls and got the final two outs, a pop up and a strikeout, of the inning to send the game to the seventh.
Vey got in a jam in the bottom half of the seventh inning as the Dukes were able to get two runners on with one out. The righty then came up with a huge strikeout of Garrett Marchand and Brennan picked off the base runner at second base to get the Bulls out of the inning without letting up a run.
The Bulls were able to add an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning as Haefner earned a walk and got into scoring position as he stole first base. Mallaro then dug in and picked up his third hit of the game, a single, to center field to plate Haefner and give the Bulls the 11-8 edge.
Logan Harasta entered the game in the bottom of the eighth inning and got out of trouble as he struck out a batter and forced a ground out to first base. Andrew Taft was then able to collect his first hit of the day, a 2-run home run, to break the game open and give UB the five run lead, 13-8.
Harasta closed the door on his second save of the season in the bottom half of the ninth as he forced a swinging strikeout with the bases loaded with Dukes.
Mallaro stayed hot at the plate as he went 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored and a RBI. The senior has gone 10-for-19 from the plate over his last four games for the Bulls. Haefner finished off his game with his first homer, three RBI and two runs scored while Dudek had a homer, three RBI and a run scored in the win.
Kwitzer continued his assault on opposing pitchers as he went 2-for-3 with three runs and two walks while Brennan continued to swing it well, going 2-for-3 with three runs, two RBI and two walks. Taft was able to break through with his first homer and RBI’s of the season in the win.
Tuohy was able to pick up his third win of the season despite allowing eight hits and five earned runs through 5.2 innings. Vey came out of the bullpen and was strong as he went 2.0 innings and struck out four batters while not allowing a run in the win.
The Bulls and Dukes will return to the diamond on Saturday at 2:00 pm for the second game of a three game series. Charlie Sobieraski will take the mound for the Bulls on Saturday.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
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