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Bulls Beat Canisius in Come From Behind Effort

In the Bulls first appearance in Buffalo this season, UB came away with an 8-6 comeback win over cross-town rival Canisius.

Buffalo trailed 6-1 at one point and 6-2, after Bryan Sanchez (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) hit his second solo home run, heading into the eighth inning. That's when the Bulls started stringing hits together in a game that saw Buffalo pound out 21 hits but leave 14 runners on base.

Sanchez, who was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs, started the rally by driving in Rob Golemba (New City, NY/Clarkstown South) with a double to left center. Adrian Daniels (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport) then drove Sanchez in with a single before Rick Mariano (Williamsville, NY/St. Joseph's) singled down the left field to cut the score to 6-5.

After reliever Tyler Ballentine (Mendon, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) - who pitched 4.1 innings of one-run ball to get the win - retired the Griffs in order in the eighth, it was time for a final Bulls' rally.

Golemba began the rally with a single to left before Daniels singled to right moving Golemba to third. Junior Kevin Brown (Amherst, NY/Amherst Central) than tied the game with a clutch two-out double to right field. After Canisius brought Tim Smith into pitch, Mariano smashed a two-run single into right center for the winning runs.

Junior Jeff Robertson (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West) came in for Ballentine with one away in the ninth and induced two weak groundouts to finish the come-from-behind win.

The hitting stars were many for the Bulls. Mariano was 4-for-5 with three RBIs while Sanchez (3-for-5, two solo homers), Daniels (3-for-5) one RBI, Brown (3-for-5) and Mike Flaherty (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport) all had three hits each. The Bulls improved to 5-9 with the victory while Canisius fell to 2-8.

Taste of the MAC

The Bulls got a taste of what it will be like in the Mid-American Conference next season when Buffalo traveled to Bowling Green this past weekend. UB dropped all three games to the defending MAC Champion Falcons.

Bowling Green swept a Saturday doubleheader, winning 7-1 and 15-11. UB was down 14-4 in the second game before coming back and making it close at the end. On Sunday, UB took an early 1-0 lead on a solo homer by Adrian Daniels. BGSU tied it in the fifth but the Bulls reclaimed the lead in the eighth on a solo homer by Mark Vogel (West Seneca, NY/Bishop Timon) for a 2-1 lead. The Falcons responded with two solo homers of their own in the bottom of the eighth for the 3-2 win in Sunday's game.

Dunn Tire Park, Home to Buffalo Baseball

Dunn Tire Park, home of the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, will also be the home field this season for the Buffalo Bulls baseball team. UB will play 12 of their 18 home games at Dunn Tire Park. The first home game will be a doubleheader on April 4, against PIttsburgh beginning at 1 pm. Four games against Niagara and LeMoyne will be played at Audubon Field and one doubleheader series against Albany (March 15) will be played at Frontier Field in Rochester, NY, home of the Tiple-A Rochester Red Wings.

At the Plate

Freshman Rick Mariano leads the Bulls at the plate, hitting .349 (15-for-43). Kevin Brown leads the team in overall hits with 19, and is hitting .322 on the year. Charlie Smilinich (Tonawanda, NY/Tonawanda) has a team-high five doubles and Adrian Daniels has two triples.

Bryan Sanchez leads the team in power, as he has collected five home runs on the season and leads the team with 12 RBIs as well. His five homers puts him one shy of tenth place for home runs in a season for the UB record books. The season record is nine, set by three players.