Phil Vanhorne

BUFFALO, NY ­ Buffalo played host to Le Moyne in its home-opener on Wednesday afternoon and split a doubleheader with the Dolphins. Le Moyne (8-10) won the first game, 6-3, and Buffalo (5-16) took the nightcap, 14-9.

The Bulls let one slip away in game one as they held a 3-1 lead in the final inning only to see Le Moyne score five runs in the top of the seventh inning to win the game.

Le Moyne scored in the top of the third inning on a single by Steven Suarez to give the Dolphins a 1-0 lead. UB answered in the bottom of the third inning when Brian Zelasko (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) scored on an error and a single by Adrian Daniels (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport) plated Phil Vanhorne (Scarborough, Ontario/Mother Teresa) to put the Bulls up, 2-1. Jordan Alcott (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) laced a double down the rightfield line and later scored when Brandon DiCesare's (Rochester, NY/McQuaid Jesuit) sacrifice bunt was thrown away by the pitcher.

Le Moyne's seventh-inning rally was sparked by a leadoff double by Michael Falasca. It was the Dolphins' only hit of the inning. Falasca scored on a throwing error by DiCesare. Mike Pecchia's ground out to second base tied the game, 3-3. A bases-loaded walk, a passed ball and a wild pitch scored Le Moyne's final three runs.

In game two, the Bulls exploded for a season-high 14 runs. Vanhorne scored UB's first run on an error by Le Moyne shortstop Anthony Aquilino in the bottom of the first inning. Buffalo scored three more times in the bottom of the second inning. Joe Mihalics (Tonawanda, NY/Timon/St. Jude) ripped an RBI single and Vanhorne followed with a double that scored two.

Joe Mihalics

The Dolphins scored two runs in the top of third inning to cut the lead to 4-2. However, the Bulls batted around in the bottom of the third and scored six runs. The key blow was a two-run single by Vanhorne. UB scored two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to extend its lead to 14-4. Le Moyne scored three runs in the sixth inning and two runs in the seventh inning to cut the lead to 14-9, but would get no closer as the Bulls held on for the victory.

Jeff Loveys (Woodstock, Ontario/College Avenue Secondary School) allowed eight earned runs over 6 1/3 innings to pick up his first career victory.

The Bulls snapped a recent hitting slump in game two by pounding out 15 hits. Chris McGraw (Summerville, SC/Stratford) was a perfect 4-for-4 in game two and Mihalics was 3-for-4 with four RBIs. However, the star on this day was Vanhorne. The sophomore shortstop combined to go 6-for-9 with four RBIs and three runs scored.