ATHENS, OH – The University at Buffalo dropped the second game of its four-game series at Ohio University 8-2 Saturday afternoon at Bob Wren Stadium. Game two of the scheduled doubleheader was suspended by rain in the top of the seventh inning with the Bulls trailing 4-2. It will be completed at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday with the regularly-scheduled nine-inning contest to follow.

The Bulls (10-19, 2-12 MAC) trailed from the outset with Ohio (15-20, 4-9) jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning off UB starter Tyler Balentine (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima). Adam Fox picked up an RBI with a bases-loaded walk and Rob Shrawder followed with a grand slam home run.

Corey Blair

UB responded with a run in the top of the second. Bryan Sanchez (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) led off with a walk. Two outs later, Corey Blair (Oneida, NY/Oneida) brought Sanchez home with a triple down the right field line to put the Bulls in the scoring column. The triple was Blair’s first of the season.

Ohio raised the score to 6-1 in the bottom of the second as leadoff hitter Brandon Wheeler started the inning with a double and scored from third on a wild pitch by Balentine.

Phil Vanhorne

The Bulls tallied a run in the fifth. Freshman shortstop Phil Vanhorne (Scarborough, Ontario/Mother Teresa) reached on fielder’s choice. Vanhorne then stole his team-leading 12^th base of the season and moved to third when catcher Scott Brownlee’s throw went into center field. Brandon DiCesare (Rochester, NY/McQuaid Jesuit) then brought Vanhorne home from third with a single to left field.

Ohio added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings for the 8-2 margin. Shrawder led off the fifth with his second homer of the game. Shrawder picked up his sixth RBI of the game in the sixth with a single off reliever John Sullivan (Buffalo, NY/Timon/St. Jude) to score Jason Shockey. Shrawder was 3-for-4 with two runs scored along with driving in six.

The Bulls were held to four hits in the game. Besides the run-producing hits by Blair and DiCesare, Joe Mihalics (Tonawanda, NY/Timon/St. Jude) and Eric Huber (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) added singles. Huber and Adrian Daniels (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport) contributed stolen bases to the UB offense.

Ohio’s Walt Novosel (3-4) went the distance in the seven-inning contest, striking out nine and walking four. Balentine (2-3) took the loss.