Adam Ruszkowski

BUFFALO, NY - A six-run fourth inning helped lift Buffalo to a 10-7 win over Canisius in the consolation game of the Big Four Baseball Classic at Dunn Tire Park on Wednesday afternoon.

The Bulls got a solid pitching performance from Adam Ruszkowski (Utica, NY/Proctor) who allowed three earned runs and struck out four over seven innings to pick up his second win of the season.

UB got on the scoreboard first in the second inning when a Brian Zelasko (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) sacrifice fly scored David Amaro (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) to give UB a 1-0 lead. The Golden Griffins tied the game in the bottom of the third inning on an RBI groundout by Harpreet Padda.

The Bulls broke the game open in the top of the fourth inning when they erupted for six runs. The six-run outburst began when Amaro scored on a fielders choice off the bat of Zelasko. Bryan Thrasher (Utica, NY/Proctor) next reached on an error that scored Phil Vanhorne (Scarborough, Ontario/Mother Teresa). Joe Mihalics (Tonawanda, NY/Timon/St. Jude) and Andrew Wengert (Utica, NY/Proctor) followed with back-to-back RBI singles. Thrasher crossed the plate when James Kingsley (Medina, NY/Medina) grounded into a double play and Mihalics scored following a Canisius' error to cap the scoring in the inning.

In the top of the sixth inning, the Bulls got an RBI double by Amaro, an RBI single by Vanhorne and a sacrifice fly by Al Barbato (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) to extend their lead to 10-1.

The Golden Griffins rallied for a run in the bottom of the sixth and a pair in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Buffalo advantage to 10-4. In the last of the ninth, Canisius made it interesting by scoring three runs and had the tying run at the plate. However, Sean McWilliams (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua) entered the game and got the final two Canisius' batters to harmlessly fly out to earn his second save of the season.

UB had 13 hits on the afternoon, including a pair of hits by Thrasher, Mihalics, Wengert, Kingsley, Vanhorne and Barbato. Canisius actually outhit UB. However, 13 of the Griffs' 14 hits were singles.

With the win, the Bulls improved to 11-25 on the season and beat Canisius for the third time this season. The Golden Griffins dropped to 2-31 on the year. UB will next travel to Kent State for a weekend series against the Golden Flashes.