NORMAN, Okla. — The University at Buffalo baseball team (4-8, 0-0 MAC) dropped a pair of games on Friday to No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners at L. Dale Mitchell Park. The Bulls put in a great effort in the first game of the day, falling in a pitcher’s duel, 1-0, to the Sooners. Oklahoma cruised to an 11-0 win in the second game of the doubleheader.
GAME ONE – Oklahoma 1, BUFFALO 0
The first game of the day turned into a pitcher’s duel between Charlie Sobieraski and Austin Hansen as neither allowed a run through the first five innings of the game. Hansen was able to limit UB to just one hit, a Kyle Brennan single, through five innings while Sobieraski scattered five hits across the first five innings and didn’t allow a run.
The game was still scoreless until the bottom half of the sixth inning when the Sooners struck for the would-be game-winning run. Quin Walbergh dug in and notched his third hit of the day, a RBI single to left field to score the run and give the Sooners the 1-0 lead.
With their final at bats, the Bulls threatened to tie the game against the national-ranked Sooners as Alex Thrower singled up the middle and Jeff Palczewski notched a sacrifice bunt to allow the tying run to move into scoring position. Ben Haefner then recorded an infield single to give UB runners on the corners with one out but the next two batters struck out swinging to end the game.
Junior Charlie Sobeiraski pitched a gem on Friday in the opening game of the doubleheader as he went 6.0 innings of seven-hit ball while allowing just one run and striking out three batters. Ben Vey came into the game in relief and didn’t allow a hit over two innings while striking out one batter.
The Buffalo offense only produced four hits in the opening game as Haefner led the way going 2-for-4 while Brennan and Thrower notched a single each in the loss.
GAME TWO – Oklahoma 11, BUFFALO 0
The Bulls weren’t able to put together another strong day on the mound in the second game as the Sooners collected the sweep by putting up 11 runs in the second game.
The Bulls tried getting on the board in the first inning but the Sooners were able to pitch out of trouble without allowing a run. After Alex Thrower led off the game with a pop up, Palczewski and Haefner notched back-to-back singles to left field before moving over a base on the wild pitch. With two runners in scoring position and one out, Vinny Mallaro struck out and Chris Kwitzer grounded out to second to end the threat.
The Sooners responded in the bottom half of the first with three runs off of Buffalo starting pitcher Brent Cleland. Oklahoma plated a run on a single before Ben Ware doubled to left field to plate two runs and give the Sooners the 3-0 lead.
Oklahoma was able to add a couple of runs in the third inning to make it 5-0 in favor of the home team before scoring four in the bottom half of the fourth. The Sooners notched a pair of RBI singles before Brandon Zaragoza notched a 2-RBI triple to right field.
The home side made the game 11-0 in the bottom of the sixth as the Bulls walked the bases loaded and the Sooners scored on a wild pitch and a single to close out the scoring of the game.
The Buffalo offense was limited to just five hits by five different players in the second game of the doubleheader. Palczewski, Haefner, Brennan, Connor Regan and Brian Wasilewski each collected singles in the loss for the Bulls.
The Bulls and Sooners will wrap up their four-game series on Saturday afternoon in Norman, Okla.
