UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO ATHLETICS
BUFFALO, N.Y. — After claiming their first three-game Mid-American Conference sweep in two seasons, the University at Buffalo softball team (11-14, 3-0 MAC) will hit the road this weekend to take on the Northern Illinois Huskies in DeKalb. Buffalo had a strong start to their conference slate while the Huskies opened with a 1-2 record against Miami (OH) during the opening weekend.
Due to weather, the two sides will open the series with a doubleheader on Friday starting at 3:00 pm ET and the second game will begin at approximately 5:00 pm ET. The series will conclude on Saturday at 2:00 pm ET.
The Bulls were able to secure three wins over the Eastern Michigan Eagles during the opening weekend of MAC play as they outscored them 23-5 across the three games. UB opened the series with a 9-1 victory in five innings as junior pitcher Ally Power notched her first career no-hitter and first for the Bulls since 2014. Buffalo backed up the series opening win with a 6-4 victory on Saturday before closing out the sweep at D’Youville College with an 8-0 victory in five innings in the series finale.
Buffalo is being led at the plate by sophomore Jessica Goldyn who owns a .388 batting average to go along with 11 runs scored and six RBI while slugging .478. Sophomore Jenelle Martinez is having a huge start to her second season as she is batting .351 with a team-best four home runs, 18 RBI and 11 runs scored while slugging .554. Freshman phenom Anna Aguon started off her Buffalo career on the right foot as she is batting .307 with three home runs, a team-best 19 runs scored and 16 RBI while slugging .533.
In the circle, the Bulls have been led by Power all season long as she has notched a career-best 8-7 record to go along with a 3.72 ERA and 10 complete games. She has pitched 81.0 innings while striking out 70 batters and holding her opponents to a .256 batting average against. Lace Smith has also earned three wins in the circle for UB while striking out 36 batters across 62.0 innings of work.
The Huskies enter the weekend series with a 10-20 overall record and a 1-2 MAC mark after downing Illinois-Chicago 13-2 on Tuesday afternoon. NIU is led offensively by Jenny Van Geertry who is batting .422 with two home runs, nine doubles, 19 runs and 13 RBI while slugging .678. Sam Schmidt is batting .376 with 13 runs and nine RBI while Alaynie Woollard leads the squad with 19 RBI and 18 runs scored through 30 games.
In the circle, the Huskies are being led by Alex Frenz who has recorded a 4-5 record to go along with a 3.62 ERA as she has struck out 31 batters across 56.0 innings of work. Tara Thacker is tied for the team-lead with four wins while also striking out a team-best 47 batters across 75.2 innings of work and owning a 3.98 ERA.
After the weekend series, UB will return home for a midweek MAC doubleheader as they welcome the Akron Zips to Buffalo on Tuesday. The first game of the doubleheader against the Zips will start at 1:00 pm followed by game two around 3:00pm.
