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Sean McWilliams

BUFFALO, NY - Junior Sean McWilliams (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua) pitched six innings of scoreless, four-hit relief and leaving half of Marshall's 14 runners on base as the University at Buffalo baseball team scored four runs late to win, 6-2, in Mid-American Conference play on a beautiful Saturday at Amherst Audubon Field.

McWilliams (2-2) and lefthanded freshman starter Shane Wolf (Freeville, NY/Lansing) become the first UB pitchers since the team joined the MAC to finish a year with ERAs under three. Wolf, who threw three innings and allowed seven hits and one earned run, finishes his first year in Amherst with a 2.40 ERA in 30 innings and McWilliams, who earned the win in relief, finishes with a 2.92 ERA in 49.1 innings of work.

Mike Connelly

Buffalo (18-30-1 overall, 4-14-1 MAC) took the lead for good in the seventh inning when junior designated hitter David Amaro (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) singled down the left field line to lead off. After a sac bunt and a ground out, sophomore third baseman Mike Connelly (Utica, NY/Proctor) delivered with a single into left to score Amaro from second base and give UB a 3-2 lead.

The Bulls added three more in the eighth as senior shortstop Joe Mihalics (Tonawanda, NY/Timon-St. Jude) tripled with one out. After an intentional walk to junior James Kingsley (Medina, NY/Medina), Marshall starter Jeremy Slone was pulled. On a 2-1 pitch, reliever Brandon Bump paid for the intentional walk as sophomore catcher Dan Quinn (Hamburg, NY/Frontier) lined his seventh homer over the 380-foot sign in left-center to clinch the 6-2 win.

Marshall (16-33 overall, 8-15 MAC) jumped out to the early lead when a walk and consecutive singles from Nick Wolle, Adam Ptacek and Aaron Jamieson coupled with an outfield error plated two runs in the second inning.

David Amaro

Buffalo cut the lead in its half of the inning when Amaro drilled a two-out line drive double to left-center. He took third on a curveball in the dirt and then scored when senior right fielder Andy Wengert (Utica, NY/Proctor) struck out, but reached first when another curveball hit the dirt and squirted past the catcher. Despite the run, Marshall starter Jeremy Slone struck out four batters in the frame.

For the second day in a row, the Bulls cut down a runner at the plate. With runners on first and third in the third inning, Marshall tried a squeeze play, but freshman pitcher Shane Wolf (Freeville, NY/Lansing) slid to get the ball in front of the plate and flipped the ball to Quinn, who slapped the tag on just in time.

While Marshall struggled, leaving 12 runners on, to bring runs home despite 10 hits in the first five innings, Buffalo made the most of its hits. Wengert walked to lead off the bottom of the fifth and Connelly blasted a double to deep center field to tie the game with Buffalo's second hit.

Slone (1-4) pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing five hits, three walks and five runs, while striking out 12 to take the loss.

Connelly finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs for Buffalo. The third baseman has been on a tear since entering the regular lineup on May 7, going 11-for-29 (.379) since. Amaro also finished 2-for-4 with two runs.

Joe Glevenyak, Adam Frederick and Brad Helm each had two hits for the Thundering Herd.

Buffalo concludes its season Sunday at 1:00 pm at Amherst Audubon Field with Senior Day against Marshall.