STAFF REPORTS
news@allwnynews.com
CLERMONT, Fla. — Buffalo State earned a two-game split for the third time to open its Florida trip today, dropping an 8-2 decision against No. 19 Wisconsin-Whitewater, before bouncing back with a 6-3 victory over Wesleyan.
GAME #1: Wisconsin-Whitewater – 8, Buffalo State – 2
Laura Crooks (Niagara Falls/Niagara Wheatfield) was 2 for 4 for the Bengals with an RBI. Allie Block (N. Tonawanda/Starpoint) was 2 for 3 at the plate and took the loss in the circle, allowing seven runs and nine hits in five innings or work. Julia Blujus (Amherst/Sacred Heart) finished 1 for 3 and scored both Bengal runs. Scarlett Whitman (Grand Island/Grand Island) pitched the final two innings, surrendering one run on two hits. The Warhawks and Bengals traded runs in the first inning with Buffalo State scoring on an RBI fielder’s choice by Cassandra O’Hern (Augusta, NJ/High Point). Nationally-ranked Whitewater took over from there, however, hitting a two-run home run in the third and a solo shot in the fourth. The Warhawks added three runs on three hits in the fifth and scored another run in the sixth. Buffalo State collected three of its six hits for the game in the seventh inning and managed to push one more run home on an RBI single by Crooks.
GAME #2: Buffalo State – 6, Wesleyan – 3
Block earned the win, pitching four innings of relief, allowing just one hit while fanning seven. She was also 2 for 3 with a run scored at the plate. Nicole Adams (Lockport/Starpoint) was 3 for 4 with a double, a homer and two RBIs. O’Hern was 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs. Buffalo State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on O’Hern’s third home run of the season, a three-run shot to left center field. Wesleyan responded with a run in the first and then evened the score at 3-3 in the fourth, but things could have been worse for the Bengals. After scoring one run, The Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs, before Block came on in relief to get the Bengals out of the jam, allowing the tying run to score on a wild pitch, but retired all three batters she faced. Adams reclaimed the lead for the Bengals in the fifth inning with her first collegiate home run, scoring a pair of runs, and Buffalo State added an insurance marker on a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Buffalo State return to action in Florida Wednesday when it takes on the University of Chicago at 9 a.m. and No. 4 Luther at 11:30 a.m.
All WNY is made possible thanks to coffee and sleep deprivation.
We appreciate your readership. We like money, too.
