Matt Francavillo

BUFFALO, NY - After 30 games on the road, the University at Buffalo did not have the type of homecoming it had expected after a week of beautiful weather in Western New York. Instead, Buffalo was greeted with a steady, drizzling rain that wiped out the final inning of the first game of what was supposed to be a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at Amherst Audubon Field.

Buffalo was also greeted at home by the reigning Atlantic 10 champions and Big 4 rival St. Bonaventure, as hurler John Zinnicker tossed a five hitter en route to a 6-1 win, snapping a three-game Bonnies' slide.

Buffalo (11-20 overall) got another solid pitching performance from sophomore Matt Francavillo (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) (0-5), who completed his second start in a row, pitching six innings and allowing eight hits, four walks and four earned runs. He struck out six, mixing a very effective curveball with a change and fastball.

The Bonnies (18-17 overall) got on the board in the third inning when 2004 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Brian Pelligrini tripled to right center with one out and scored on a groundout. The 1-0 lead was not relinquished, as the Bonnies added another run in the fourth, as Damian Blakely led off with a walk and after a groundout, scored on a double down the left field line by Shane Sudbrook.

In the fifth inning, the Bonnies scored two more as Pelligrini singled to set up a two-run blast over the right field fence by Joe Rizzo on an impossibly windy day in Amherst.

St. Bonaventure scored two more runs in the sixth inning, taking advantage of a two-out infield error to take a 6-0 lead.

The Bulls' lone run came in the bottom of the sixth inning as the rain started to fall harder. Senior center fielder Phil Vanhorne (Scarborough, Ontario/Mother Teresa) tripled to lead off and scored on a two-out line single by sophomore catcher Dan Quinn (Hamburg, NY/Frontier).

The game was called with no outs in the top of the seventh inning after a single by St. Bonaventure's Matt Mardeusz.

Three-hole Pelligrini went 3-for-4 with two runs to pace the Bonnies' offensive attack and cleanup-hitter Rizzo complemented him with three RBIs and a homer.

Zinnicker (1-4) walked two and gave up one earned run to earn the win in the complete game despite striking out just one batter.

Freshman second baseman Mike Folli (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a leadoff double in the first inning for Buffalo.

Buffalo will try to end its seven-game losing skid on Friday as it battles Mid-American Conference East Division foe Ohio at 3:00 pm at Amherst Audubon Field.