When things start to go bad, they usually tend to hit rock bottom before the eventual upswing back toward better days.
???Over the weekend, the Bulls (14-23, 3-11 Mid-American Conference) hit that lowest point, losing three straight games to the Miami RedHawks (20-15, 10-5 MAC) and in the process reaching a season-high six-game losing streak.
???Conference play has been difficult on the Bulls this season and it doesn't get any easier the rest of the way. The Bulls play three of the top four teams in the East division over the next four weekends and head coach Ron Torgalski knows they have to maintain their focus.
???"Our guys realize how good the league is," Torgalski said. "Every weekend we're going to face teams like we faced this past weekend. They need to be mentally prepared and come ready to play. I haven't seen any signs of them quitting or giving up."
RedHawks strike first
???On Friday, the Bulls aimed to halt a four-game losing streak. After entering McKie Field with the hopes of strong pitching, the RedHawks quieted the Bulls after scoring five runs in the first two innings. They eventually won the game, 15-9.
???"We have been struggling as of late," Torgalski said. "I think, first off, we just haven't been throwing strikes. That is always a problem. I think this weekend, we just ran into a team that was just swinging the bat very well. Every guy we put out there was getting hit hard."
???The first inning began well for the Bulls as they took the lead early on an RBI-base hit from junior outfielder Charlie Karstedt.
???Miami answered right back in the half of the first. They responded with a two-run home run by left fielder Chris Nadeau off of sophomore starting pitcher Jesse Reinstein.
???Buffalo rallied with a two-run bomb of their own in the second inning. Junior catcher Brad Cochrane's first career homerun gave the Bulls a temporary 3-2 lead.
???Miami would storm right back in their half of the inning. They took advantage of Reinstein's wild pitching and scored three runs to grab a 5-3 advantage. Before getting removed with two outs, Buffalo's starting pitcher had walked four batters and thrown a wild pitch.
Reinstein's numbers were not what Torgalski had in mind to open a three-game series.
???"Using a lot of pitchers in a series really hurts us," Torgalski said. "We don't have the [same] depth as a lot of other teams, especially in conference, so when our starters do not go long into games, we can struggle."
???After a scoreless third inning for both teams, the Bulls leapfrogged Miami in the fourth as they turned a two-run deficit into a two-run, 7-5 lead. Junior third baseman Shivam Bhan hit a two-run homerun to tie the game and junior centerfielder Adam Skonieczki highlighted his 4-4 day with a two-run homerun of his own.
???The Bulls crossed the plate once in the sixth to extend their lead to three runs, but Miami came back with vengeance.
???By the time the RedHawks hit the field for the top of the seventh inning, they had scored on an RBI-triple and a two-run double to tie the game at eight points. The three earned runs were the only scores senior pitcher Dan Francis gave up in relief of Reinstein.
???The Bulls took the lead back in the top of the seventh when junior shortstop Jacob Rosenbeck hit an RBI-double, making the score 9-8.
???With the lead in the bottom of the inning, Torgalski went to a reliable source out of the pen, senior pitcher Zach Anderson.
???Anderson had an apparent off day. He surrendered six earned runs and failed to make it out of the inning. Miami battered the righty as they picked up five hits, one being a two-run homerun by third baseman Jordan Petraitis, and by the end of the inning, the Miami lead was 14-9.
???Just when Buffalo thought they had a perfect situation for a win, the pitching let them down again.
???"When we were up in the seventh, I thought the game was ours when we threw Anderson, our closer," Torgalski said. "Zach really struggled with his command and Miami hit the ball well."
???The Bulls would not score for the rest of the game as the deficit and the Miami pitchers proved to be too much to overcome. Miami scored an additional run in the bottom half of the eighth, making the final score 15-9.
???Anderson, who dropped to 3-4 on the season, has been the stopper out of the bullpen all year. But he and his fellow teammates on the pitching staff have seen a lot of work lately.
???"We have played a lot of games in a short period of time," Torgalski said. "[We're] bringing a lot of guys back every other day, even a couple days in a row, and you're just to the point in the season where some guys need some rest. We only have one mid-week game this week so we're hoping some guys can get some rest and be ready to go."
???Buffalo's first loss of the series didn't faze Torgalski.
???"All you can do is keep continuing to swing the bats and hope that the pitching can come around," Torgalski said. "It tends to even out because sometimes you pitch well and you can't hit while other times it seems that you hit well and you can't pitch. We'll just continue to work hard."
Fortunes don't change in Saturday doubleheader
???The Bulls would enter Saturday's doubleheader looking to turn things around, but would struggle throughout.
???In the first game, Ciesla would start a new hit streak with a solo homerun to make the score 2-1 in favor of the RedHawks.
???The teams battled for a couple of innings, but Miami systematically broke down the Bulls pitching staff in route to an 18-6 lead heading into the top of the ninth inning.
???Torgalski preaches a consistent unwavering attitude to his players no matter what the situation.
???"We're always talking to guys, making sure that their mental frame is where it needs to be," Torgalski said. "For the most part, I haven't seen guys hanging their heads or pressing. They're playing hard and doing what they need to do. This weekend we ran into a very good team, but they know we have to come back this weekend and be ready to go."
???Although the task seemed impossible, the Bulls came out in the ninth like a team on a mission and made every attempt to steal the baseball game.
???Ciesla singled up the middle to score two, followed up by an RBI single to left field by junior first baseman Rob Lawler. Skonieczki and junior second baseman Brad Agustin also drove in runners with singles of their own.
???The comeback ended there as the next two batters struck out to end the threat - and the ballgame - with the RedHawks squeaking out a win 18-15.
???"We got down by a lot of runs and there was no quit," Torgalski said. "We got back to the point where we were a swing away from tying the game. It would have been easy to pack it in a couple innings before that and say this one is over, we got another one, but we didn't do that. We have a veteran group of guys and they know at any time you can score a lot of runs and get back into a game."
???Junior pitcher Pierre Miville-Deschenes earned the loss for the Bulls after going 3.0 innings and giving up seven runs on nine hits. Ciesla starred for the Bulls at the plate, going 3-for-6 with a home run and three RBIs.
???While the loss extended Buffalo's losing streak, Torgalski believed some good came from it.
???"We battle," Torgalski said. "We realize that with the lineup we have and the aluminum bats we swing, we can win a game at any point. No team can cruise on us, and scoring the runs we did in the ninth taught us the lesson that we can't let up no matter if we are down nine or up nine."
???The second game of the twin bill is a game the Bulls hope to soon forget. The game marked the return of senior pitcher Mike Stangroom, who got knocked around in his first start since March 20 against Northern Illinois. Stangroom pitched 3.0 innings and gave up eight runs on seven hits.
???"He struggled," Torgalski said. "His arm strength isn't quite all there yet. He has got to take some more steps until he is back into form and, hopefully, he comes around and gives us a good five or six inning game sometime in the future."
???Offensively, the Bulls struggled throughout the game. Several players were injured in the first game, so the Bulls had to improvise and only managed four hits in an 11-0 shutout.
???Miami pitcher Jordan Jankowski was lights out pitching 5.1 innings, allowing no runs and striking out 7 batters.
???"That kid was very good," Torgalski said. "He threw it well and he spotted his pitches well. He also threw a hard slider that made him real effective."
???The Bulls travel across town Wednesday to face off with longtime rival Niagara in a non-conference game at Sal Maglie Stadium. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
