James Kingsley

MOUNT PLEASANT, MI - After falling behind 6-1, the University at Buffalo baseball team rallied, but fell to Central Michigan, 6-4 on Sunday afternoon at Theunissen Stadium. The Chippewas swept the three-game series.

UB got on the scoreboard first when James Kingsley (Medina, NY/Medina) singled home Al Barbato (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead. Central Michigan answered with a run in the bottom of the first inning to tie the contest, 1-1. Jim Geldhof drove in his second run of the game in the bottom of the second inning to give the Chippewas a 2-1 lead.

Bryan Mitzel launched a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning and added a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth inning to help extend the Chippewas' lead to 6-1.

Kingsley led off the seventh inning with a double and later scored on an RBI single by Phil Vanhorne (Scarborough, Ontario/Mother Teresa) to cut the Central Michigan advantage to 6-2. The Bulls inched another run closer in the top of the eighth inning when Andrew Wengert (Utica, NY/Proctor) singled home Brian Zelasko (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park). UB cut the lead to 6-4 in the top of the ninth inning when Steve Legrett (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua) scored on an RBI groundout by Barbato. With a runner on second and third, Joe Mihalics (Tonawanda, NY/Timon/St. Jude) grounded out to the shortstop to end the game.

Chris McGraw (Summerville, SC/Stratford) allowed four runs over two innings and was charged with the loss. After McGraw was pulled, the bullpen pitched well for UB as Sean McWilliams (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua), Jeff Loveys (Woodstock, Ontario/College Avenue) and Dustin Clark (Adams Center, NY/South Jefferson) combined to hold the Chippewas to two runs on three hits over six innings.

With the loss, the Bulls dropped to 15-34 overall and 4-15 in the MAC. Central Michigan improved to 30-21 overall and a conference-best 16-5 mark in the MAC.