Bulls Drop Sunday Match To Akron, 8-4

Pizzuto grabs two hits and one RBI

Bobby Pizzuto

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo baseball team took the Zips into extra innings in Sunday’s game against Akron, falling by a final count of 8-4. The Bulls were upended following four unanswered runs in the 11th inning, just missing out on the team’s first series sweep of the season.

The Zips got on the board in the top of the first inning as Scott Gunn hit a solo home run to right center. The Zips added another run in the top of the third inning, but Adam Ruszkowski (Utica, NY/Proctor) was able to pitch the Bulls out of additional trouble.

UB picked up its first run of the afternoon in the bottom of the fourth inning as junior Nick Walczak (Tonawanda, NY/Kenmore East) drove in freshman Bobby Pizzuto (Mentor, OH/Notre Dame Cathedral) with a single. The Bulls loaded the bases in the inning with two outs, but were unable to tack on any additional runs.

Adam Ruszkowski

The Zips regained their two goal lead in the top of the fifth inning, but UB answered with a run in the bottom half as freshman Adam Skonieczki (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) doubled and moved to third on a sacrifice fly. Skonieczki then stole home to make the score 3-2 in the Zips’ favor.

Akron again took a two-run lead in the top of the seventh inning, but Pizzuto hit an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh, which cut the Buffalo deficit to one. In the eighth inning, UB turned a nifty double play to end the top half and tied the game up with a two-out rally in the bottom of the eighth. Chris Ciesla (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) hit a double down the left field line and was driven in on a single from freshman Shivam Bhan (Calden, Ontario/Mayfield).

Ruszkowski pitched into the eighth inning, but picked up a no decision as Steve Geltz (Ransomville, NY/Wilson) came on in relief. Geltz would walk in the winning run with the bases loaded, picking up the loss after pitching a season-high four innings. The Zips managed to tack on an additional three runs to close the game out.

The Bulls will be back in action on Tuesday afternoon as they head north to take on Niagara at Sal Maglie Field. First pitch is set for 4:00 pm.

04/29/2007