Eric Kelly

BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo baseball team split a doubleheader with Toledo at Amherst Audubon Field on Sunday afternoon. UB won game one, 5-4, while the Rockets took game two, 9-2.

Buffalo starting pitcher Eric Kelly (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca East) had one of his best performances of the season in game one. The freshman hurler allowed four runs on four hits and struck out five over 8.2 innings to pick up his third win of the season.

Toledo got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. The Bulls quickly answered with a run in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI double by Chris McGraw (Summerville, SC/Stratford) to tie the game, 1-1.

The Rockets took a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning on a two-run single by Chris Arvay. Buffalo cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI double by Joe Mihalics (Tonawanda, NY/Timon/St. Jude) that scored Brian Zelasko (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park). Toledo added a run in the top of the seventh inning to take a 4-2 lead. An RBI single by Bryan Thrasher (Utica, NY/Proctor) plated Phil Vanhorne (Scarborough, Ontario/Mother Teresa) to cut the Toledo lead to 4-3 in the seventh inning.

The Bulls pulled ahead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. McGraw doubled home Andrew Wengert (Utica, NY/Proctor) and a bases-loaded walk by Al Barbato (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) scored Tony Tasner (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda) to account for the scoring. Dustin Clark (Adams Center, NY/South Jefferson) got Toledo outfielder Sean Dobson to fly out to end the game and pick up his first save of the season.

In game two, the Bulls took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single by Zelasko that scored McGraw. Buffalo scored again in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI single by Wengert to make the score 2-0. After tallying a run in the top of the sixth inning, the Rockets erupted for five runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 6-2 lead. Toledo added three runs in the top of the ninth inning before cruising to the victory.

UB starter Adam Ruszkowski (Utica, NY/Proctor) was charged with the loss after allowing five earned runs over six innings. Nick Szczur tossed a complete game to pick up the win for the Rockets.

The Bulls are now 14-31 overall and 4-12 in the MAC. Toledo is 15-30 overall and 6-12 in the conference. UB will play its final home game of the season on Wednesday night against Niagara. First pitch is slated for 6 pm.