In a battle of local rivals, the Niagara baseball team made the cross-town trip to Amherst Audubon field to take on the Buffalo Bulls on Wednesday afternoon.
Niagara ultimately came out on top by a score of 6-5, in a back-and-forth battle of local rivals.
Buffalo (3-22, 2-7 MAC) and Niagara (10-13) had to fight the unseasonable weather, even encountering some snowflakes during the mid-day contest. The elements may have contributed to the team's sloppy play. Six errors were committed during the game, four of which were by the Bulls.
"Today felt like a summer day to our guys compared to what we had in Toledo. It was about twenty degrees there," said head coach Ron Torgalski. "But we both had to play in it so you can't use that as an excuse."
The Bulls struck first blood in the third inning when sophomore outfielder Eric Flynn brought home a pair of runners with a poke to right field.
Niagara then made a charge, scoring six consecutive runs taking a 6-2 advantage. Eagles designated hitter Steve Baldinelli led the charge for Niagara with two hits and two runs scored.
Buffalo came alive with three eighth inning runs, highlighted by sophomore pitcher Chris Ciesla's triple to deep center field that scored freshman outfielder Adam Skonieczki.
After loading up the bases, the Bulls would go on to score two more runs in the frame, to come within a run of Niagara. Between all the runs being scored, Bulls junior infielder Nick Walczak was ejected from the game following a series of debated events.
Walczak claimed to be hit by a pitch and on his way to first base, the home plate umpire was overheard saying, "That didn't hit you."
This drew the ire of Walczak and after a heated exchange of words he was tossed from the contest.
"The guy got hit, I can understand why he was mad but he needs to keep his mouth shut," Torgalski said. "He needs to let me do the arguing."
Argue Torgalski did. After confronting the umpire and pleading his case, the umpires awarded the Bulls first base, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Sophomore pitcher Steve Geltz struck out the side in the top of the ninth to give the Bulls a chance heading into their final at bats.
"The situation in the eighth definitely energized the guys a little bit," Torgalski said.
Freshman outfielder Bobby Pizzuto began the ninth with a single to center field, but never advanced further. The next three Bull hitters were retired in order, ending the Bulls' comeback attempt.
Marcus Spaulding picked up the victory for Niagara, improving his record to 11-13. Buffalo sophomore Dan Francis recorded the loss as the Bulls fell to 3-23 on the season.
Although the Bulls posted a late charge, they still find themselves unable to pull out the close game.
"We aren't good enough to be giving people runs and trying to come back in the late innings. If we are going to be a successful team, we need to play clean baseball," Torgalski said.
The Bulls will be back in action this weekend for a three game home stand with Western Michigan.
"We're looking at this being the biggest series of the year," Torgalski said.
The Bulls showed signs of improvement against Niagara, but will have to start posting some wins if they hope to achieve their goal of postseason play.
"We are only two games back of second place in the MAC East and that has been our goal all year long, to be one of the top six teams and make it to the conference tournament," Torgalski said.
