UB baseball dropped all three games of a three-game weekend series at Miami (Ohio) over the weekend.
The first game saw a final score of 10-1, while the Bulls dropped game two 6-5 and lost the third game 8-5. Following the series, the Bulls' record dropped to 11-19 overall and 1-6 in the Mid-American Conference while the RedHawks' record improved to 23-12 overall and a MAC-leading 7-2.
On Friday, Buffalo fell prey to RedHawk sophomore pitcher Keith Weiser, who held the Bulls in check while striking out a career-high 10 batters in 7.2 innings en route to an easy 10-3 win in front of a crowd of 1,209 at McKie Field.
Weiser, who improved his season record to 5-0, entered the game placed second in the MAC in earned-run average (2.06), third in innings pitched (52.1), and tied for second place in the win department.
"(Weiser) is one of the best pitchers in the MAC - he bottled us up and pitched," said Buffalo head coach Bill Breene. "It was one of those days where we got overmatched, and he kept our guys off-balance all day."
MAC East division leader Miami struck first, scoring three times in the third inning. Sophomore left fielder Ryne Robinson knocked in the first two runs with a triple to right-center. Sophomore center fielder Brandon Hillier's double to left-center field scored Robinson and stretched the lead to 3-0 for the RedHawks.
Miami did not look back from that inning and the Bulls never made it close. Buffalo's only run came in the eighth inning off of a sacrifice fly, as the RedHawks cruised to a 10-1 victory.
"These guys are probably the perennial favorites to win the conference," said Breene. "They have a very deep pitching staff and a bunch of veterans, so they're relatively better as a team, but our guys hung in there."
Sophomore starter Adam Ruszkowski took the loss for the Bulls, lowering his record to 4-2 this season. He pitched five innings, during which he allowed six runs, eight hits and three walks while striking out two.
On Saturday, Miami was able to score two runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings each to overcome a 5-0 deficit and beat the Bulls by the score of 6-5.
With six runners left on base in the game for Buffalo, the Bulls failed to capitalize on several opportunities to score more runs and secure the game for freshman closer Tony Kurtz (3-2), who took the loss for the Bulls.
"Even though Kurtz is a freshman, he's a guy we've been going to, he can go in there and throw it pretty hard," said Breene. "When you're playing a team like Miami, you can never have enough runs. They just came out and got the hits when they needed them."
In the loss, junior first baseman James Kingsley broke out of a recent 2-for-26 slump by going 2-for-4. Both of the junior's hits were homeruns, stretching his team-leading homer total to seven. Kingsley accounted for all five Buffalo runs while batting out of the five-hole, as opposed to his usual cleanup position.
Miami senior slugger Brian Canada led the RedHawks offensively with a timely eighth-inning triple to right-center and a game-winning, two-RBI single down the right field line to key the Miami comeback victory.
"The team was very disappointed - they know (Miami) is a team we measure ourselves up to. We played heads up and played them on the ropes, but we weren't able to finish them off," said Breene.
In the final game of the series on Sunday, Miami took advantage of early Buffalo miscues to sweep the series from the Bulls, 8-5.
Miami built a two run lead in the first inning and added two more runs in the third, and one in the top of the fourth to push the score to 5-0. The Bulls responded, however, inking a run in the bottom of the fourth as Dave Amaro slammed his third homer of the year over the left field fence.
With Miami owning a 5-1 advantage, the RedHawks scored three more runs in the fifth inning, pushing their lead to 8-1. The Bulls didn't go quietly, however, as UB battled back in the sixth inning to close the run deficit, 8-5.
An Al Barbato double, followed by a Mike Folli single and a Vanhorne walk loaded the bases, which allowed Barbato to score on a sacrifice fly. Dan Quinn then belted his fifth homerun of the season to bring the Bulls to within three runs of the RedHawks, 8-5.
Chris McGraw (1-2) took the loss on the mound for the Bulls, striking out four while surrendering three walks and allowing seven earned runs on six hits.
Buffalo will open an eight game home stand beginning on Wednesday when the Bulls host St. Bonaventure in a non-league doubleheader at Amherst Audubon Field. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
