Agustin Zips Bulls Past Akron with Five RBIs

Bulls come-from-behind to win 7-6 with two eighth-inning runs

Brad Agustin

AKRON, OH – A day after his 14-game hitting streak was snapped, freshman Brad Agustin (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East) started a brand new one, tying a career-high set Wednesday by driving in five runs as the University at Buffalo baseball team came-from-behind to steal away a 7-6 win from Akron in Mid-American Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Lee Jackson Baseball Field.

Rick Oliveri

The Bulls rallied from down one run in the top of the eighth inning, as sophomore catcher Rick Oliveri (Tonawanda, NY/Canisius) singled to the opposite field with one out. Freshman Eric Flynn (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) followed with a single through the left side, setting up Agustin, who delivered an opposite field double that plopped in down the right field line, making it 7-6 in favor of the Bulls.

Down 2-0, Buffalo tied the game in the fifth inning, as Oliveri singled to lead off. After a strikeout, he took second on a wild pitch, allowing Agustin to drive him in with a single. A walk and a wild pitch moved Agustin to third and he scored on a groundout from senior James Kingsley (Medina, NY/Medina) to tie the score. Kingsley passed Rudy Pettiford (1979-82) for second place on the RBI list with 124 in his career.

Eric Flynn

Akron took the lead back in the fifth, thanks to two hits, a walk and a balk, scoring twice, but Buffalo rallied to take a 5-4 lead in the seventh. Flynn led off with a single and Agustin followed with a two-run homer to tie the game. After a flyout, Kingsley singled and after a flyout, he stole second, setting up an RBI double from sophomore Mike Folli (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott).

The lead wouldn’t last, however, as Akron fought back with two in the bottom of the seventh, as Kurt Davidson drew a two-out walk, setting up a run-scoring double from Charlie Lenhard. Doug McNulty followed with a single to score the go-ahead run before freshman Steve Geltz (Ransomville, NY/Wilson) entered the game and got out of the inning as Vince Chiera got thrown out at second on a single.

Geltz (2-4) settled down in his final two innings to retire his final six batters, striking out two to earn his second victory of the season and first in relief.

Patrick Gliha (3-2) took the loss, as he pitched the final two innings, allowing four hits and two runs.

Freshmen Flynn and Agustin once again paced the Bulls from the top of the lineup as Flynn went 3-for-4 with two runs and Agustin went 3-for-5 with two runs and five RBIs. Oliveri also delivered a very important two hits, scoring two runs.

McNulty went 3-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs to lead the Zips and Davidson added a 2-for-4, two-run day.

The Bulls and Zips meet in the rubber match of the three-game set on Sunday at 1:00 pm at Lee Jackson Field.

04/29/2006