Published: May 05, 2007 10:10 pm      

COLLEGE ROUNDUP: UB baseball shutout by Redhawks (May 5)

AMHERST — After winning their past three Mid-American Conference series, the University at Buffalo baseball team thought it was ready to compete in the upper echelon of the conference.

But the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks, and more specifically their pitching staff, have proved that to be a difficult task for the Bulls the past two days.

A day after dropping a tight 3-2 extra-inning battle, the Bulls were dominated by Redhawks starter Connor Graham in a 7-0 loss at Audubon Field.

“That’s two games against two very good pitchers,” UB coach Ron Torgalski said. “They can pitch with anybody in the country, so against a staff like that you can’t give them too many opportunities.”

Graham, who tossed eight innings, struck out eight and only allowed one runner past second base, also got a little help from his offense.

After ripping a leadoff triple in the top of the third inning, Evan Armitage came around to score on an RBI ground out off the bat of Brandon Hiller.

Hiller added another RBI in the fifth when he brought in Gary King to give Miami a 2-0 lead.

The game stayed at that same score until the eighth, when the Redhawks added on two more runs after a two-out, two-run double from Eric Darlage.

“He may have run out of gas,” Torgalski said about his starter Mark Tourangeau, who pitched into the ninth inning. “He threw a good game, though.”

Miami added three more runs in the ninth inning as it improved to 25-16 overall and 13-5 in the MAC.

The Bulls (12-30, 8-12) had their best scoring chance in the eighth when Mike Folli and Bobby Pizzuto opened the frame with base hits. But Graham shut the door with a ground out and a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.

UB looks to stay in the MAC playoff race when the same two teams play at 1 p.m. today.

“A win would do a lot for our confidence heading into the last two MAC weekends,” Torgalski said.

Marist 8-11, Niagara 7-2

Niagara’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference losing streak reached 12 games with a pair of losses in Poughkeepsie. The Purple Eagles (13-27, 2-15 MAAC) lost the first game 8-7 and the second 11-2.

James Boyack allowed five runs in relief to earh the loss in the first game. Mark Sikorski fell to 1-2 on the year with a loss in the second game. Tim Alberts collected a team-high five hits in the doubleheader, including a 3-for-3 effort in the nightcap.

SOFTBALL

Niagara 1-6, Rider 3-5

The Niagara University softball team (18-18 overall, 10-6 MAAC) will be heading to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time since 2000 after splitting its final regular-season series at Rider (9-35, 3-10) on Saturday afternoon. The Purple Eagles lost game one, 3-1, but came back with a solid effort in game two en route to a 6-5 win.

In the opener, Lisa Baker and Kristin Kill both went 2-for-3 at the plate for NU. Baker gave the Purple Eagles the lead in the fourth inning when she hit her fourth home run of the season.

In game two, junior Tory Healy’s two-run home run proved to be the difference. She finished the day 2-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBIs. Tiffany McCrory got the win, her eighth on the season.

TRACK & FIELD

UB sets three records at Campbell/Wright Open

The Bulls set three school records and also won a trio of events.

On the men’s side, Reggie Rucker won the 400-meter hurdles in 51.41 seconds, breaking the previous UB record of 51.75 set last season by Brian Heim. Another record was broken by javelin thrower P.J. Godios. Godios finished second in the event, but still uncorked a throw of 198 feet, 11 inches to break the UB record previously held by Matt Streng, by one inch.

Lockport’s Sarah Vance collected three second place finishes behind Akron’s All-MAC performer Stevi Large. Vance broke her own record in the discus with a toss of 161-feet, which bested her own record by nearly four feet and gave the UB senior her third NCAA East Regional qualifying mark.

NEWS & NOTES

Mauro named Canisius HS AD

Canisius High School has named Jim Mauro its new Director of Athletics, replacing Brian Lombardo, who held had held the title for one year.

Mauro was previously the Associate Athletics Director at Niagara University and the Vice President at Ad-Pro Team sports in Buffalo.