STAFF REPORTS
news@allwnynews.com
BUFFALO — After letting the first game slip away, Buffalo State blasted visiting Brockport in the late game today, avenging a 7-4 loss with a 9-1 five-inning victory.
Game #1: Brockport – 7, Buffalo State – 4
Brockport stunned the Bengals in the opening game with a late rally that included a four-run fifth inning on no hits and four Buffalo State errors. The Golden Eagles bats finally came alive with four of their six hits coming in the seventh inning to plate two more runs. Buffalo State pounded out 13 hits in the game, but after scoring two runs in the second and two more in the third, was held scoreless over the final four innings. Allie Block (N. Tonawanda/Starpoint) suffered the hard-luck loss, taking a two-hitter into the seventh inning. She gave up just six hits for the game with two earned runs and 11 strikeouts. She also had a double and an RBI. Laura Crooks (Niagara Falls/Niagara Wheatfield), Danielle Szymkowiak (Cheektowaga/Cheektowaga), Cassandra O’Hern (Augusta, NJ/High Point), Kaelee Lynch (Atwater, CA/Buhach Colony) and Emma Ruggiero (Amherst/Sacred Heart) all collected two hits apiece for the Bengals.
Game #2: Buffalo State – 9, Brockport – 1 (5 innings)
Block posted the win in the late game, throwing 3 2/3 innings of scoreless, three-hit relief. She was also 2 for 2 with two doubles and three RBIs. O’Hern was 2 for 3 with a double and three RBIs, while Julia Blujus (Amherst/Sacred Heart), Crooks, and Szymkowiak added a pair of hits each. Kaelee Lynch (Atwater, CA/Buhach Colony) was also 1 for 3 with a pair of RBIs. The Bengals opened the game with five-straight hits, including a two-run double by Block to take an early lead they would never relinquish. Brockport answered with a solo homer in the second, but it was all Buffalo State the rest of the way. Buffalo State added another run on another RBI double by Block in the third, and then put the game out of reach with six runs on five hits and one error in the fourth.
Allie Block’s 127 strikeouts are the third most in a single season by a Buffalo State pitcher. She leads the SUNYAC in both strikeouts and inning pitched at 139 1/3.
Buffalo State will wrap up the regular season next weekend with a trip to the “North Country.” The Bengals will visit Plattsburgh on Friday and close at Potsdam on Saturday.
