STAFF REPORTS
news@allwnynews.com
BUFFALO — The bats went cold on Sunday afternoon as the University at Buffalo baseball team (14-26, 6-9 MAC) dropped the series finale to the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Amherst Audobon Field by the score of 4-0. Buffalo was able to claim just their second MAC series victory of the season, 2-1, with wins on Friday and Saturday.
The Eagles were able to get on the board in the first inning as Jordan Peterson led off the game with a single to right before moving over to third base after a sacrifice and a ground out. John Montgomery then stepped in and delivered a two-out RBI double to deep left field to score Peterson and give the Eagles the 1-0 lead.
Buffalo looked poised to respond in the bottom half of the first inning as Alex Thrower singled to center field and Phillip Tomasulo moved him over to third with a single of his own through the right side. With runners on the corners and no outs, the heart of the UB lineup wasn’t able to plate a run as Ben Haefner and Chris Kwitzer struck out and Vinny Mallaro flied out.
After a quick 1-2-3 inning for Brent Cleland in the second, the Buffalo offense once again looked like they were going to put some runs on the board. Brian Dudek knocked a single into center field and stole second before Andrew Taft earned a walk. After a ground out moved runners to second and third, Thrower earned a walk to load the bases full of Bulls but Tomasulo struck out looking to end the threat.
A Haefner single and stolen base to lead off the third wasn’t enough to get UB a run scored as the two sides entered the fourth with the Eagles clinging to the 1-0 lead.
Eastern Michigan made it 2-0 in the fourth inning as Max Schuemann was hit by a pitch and Nick Jones singled through the left side of the infield. Zach Owings then notched an RBI infield single to score Schuemann from third.
After a scoreless fifth inning by both sides, Cleland was able to get out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth to end his afternoon. Eastern Michigan made it 3-0 in the seventh inning as the Eagles were able to notch a sacrifice fly to plate Marquise Gill from third base after Logan Harasta was called for a balk.
Neither team was able to score a run in the eighth but the Eagles increased their lead to 4-0 in the ninth inning as Montgomery notched an RBI sacrifice fly to right field to plate Gill from third.
Kyle Brennan led off the bottom half of the inning with a deep double to left field but the Bulls stranded him on base as they fell, 4-0 on Sunday.
On the mound, Cleland had a strong effort as he was able to go 6.0 innings while allowing six hits, two runs, three walks and struck out two batters in the loss. Logan Harasta allowed one run in two innings while striking out a pair of batters while Tom Taplin allowed an unearned run in his inning of action.
Haefner and Tomasulo each recorded multi-hit games in the loss as both players finished off their afternoon going 2-for-4. Brennan was able to go 1-for-4 with a double while Thrower went 1-for-3 with a walk and Dudek went 1-for-4 with a single.
The Bulls will return to Amherst Audobon Field on Tuesday afternoon as they welcome Big 4 foe Niagara for a doubleheader starting at 2:00 pm. The games will each be seven innings with game two starting a half hour after the completion of the first game.
