Buffalo Drops Series Finale at Ball State

Ciesla has three hits in the loss for the Bulls

Chris Ciesla

MUNCIE, IN – The University at Buffalo baseball team fell in the final game of their three-game series at Ball State on Sunday afternoon, dropping the contest 9-3. Chris Ciesla (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) had three hits in the game for the Bulls and Rob Mancini (Windsor, Ontario/St. Thomas) added a pair of hits.

The Cardinals opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when Dean Anna doubled to open the inning. Wayne Bond then singled for Ball State and Justin Rogers followed with the third-straight hit for Ball State, scoring Anna.

Buffalo responded with a pair of runs in the second. Ciesla led off the inning with a single up the middle, Nick Walczak (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore East) followed with a double to right center. Shivam Bhan (Caledon, Ontario/Mayfield) then reached on a fielding error and picked up a RBI as Ciesla scored on the play. Later in the inning, E.J. Folli (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) singled through the right side, picking up a RBI as Walczak.

E.J. Folli

The Bulls increased their lead with a run in the third as Ciesla picked up a RBI with a single to right field, which scored Jacob Rosenbeck (Medina, NY/Medina) who had reached base earlier in the inning on an error.

Ball State scored three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-3 lead. After Anna doubled to open the inning, Bond hit a two-run shot to left field to tie the game at 3-3. Zach Dygert then tripled and scored on a ground out by Kory Benbow.

The hosts added to their lead with five runs in the fourth, the big hit of the inning coming on a three-run homer by Dygert.

Jesse Reinstein (Thornhill, Ontario/Westmount Collegiate) and Steve Geltz (Ransomville, NY/Wilson) combined to throw 4.1 innings out of the bullpen for Buffalo, allowing just one hit.

The loss drops UB to 7-20 overall, 2-6 in the Mid-American Conference.

The Bulls will return to action on Wednesday, April 9 when they make their first appearance of the season at Amherst Audubon Field against the Purple Eagles of Niagara. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.

04/06/2008