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Bulls Open Season At Troy Cox Classic

Head Coach Marie Curran

The University at Buffalo softball team opened its 2007 season on Friday at the Troy Cox Classic, hosted by New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. Facing strong competition, the Bulls were upended in all five games narrowly falling to Loyola-Marymount 5-3 and UT-Arlington 4-3 on day one. On the second day of action, Buffalo came up short against the host-school Aggies 14-6 and on the final day of competition, UB fell to UT-El Paso, 5-0 and MAC foe Central Michigan, 10-1.

Freshmen Display Offensive Power In Collegiate Debut

Newcomers played a key role in the Bulls’ first day of competition, as Kristen Gallipani (Brewster, NY/Brewster) and Sharon Barr (Coarsegold, CA/Yosemite Union) both belted their first career homeruns. In the Bulls first game, a 4-3 loss to Loyola-Marymount, Gallipani belted a two-run shot in the seventh inning to close the Buffalo gap, while in the nightcap, a 4-3 setback to UT-Arlington, Barr roped a shot over the leftfield fence.

Slammin’ Sharon Barr

Rookie pitcher Sharon Barr proved to be a jack-of-all-trades in the Bulls’ opening weekend, as the freshman finished the weekend with a team-high five RBIs on four hits, including a homerun and a double. On the flip-side of the field, Barr was solid on the mound, making three appearances, including a duo of starts. The hurler finished the weekend with a 4.15 ERA in 13.0 complete innings pitched.

Perfect On the Basepaths

Mary Russell

In Buffalo’s opening weekend of competition, the trio of senior Mary Russell (Apalachin, NY/Owego Free Academy), freshman Samantha Gaetano (Rochester, NY/Nazarath Academy) and junior Marcy Hansen (Claremont, CA/Claremont) were a perfect combined 8-for-8 in stolen bases, as both Hansen and Gaetano finished with two each while Russell compiled four stolen bases in the team’s first five games.

Barstad Still Stymieing Batters

Sophie Barstad

Senior pitcher Sophie Barstad (Canby, OR) is currently second in career strikeouts at UB and Barstad continued right where she left off in previous seasons, fanning nine batters over 10.61 innings of work at the Troy Cox Classic.

Next Up

The Bulls will travel to El Paso, TX to participate in a tournament hosted by the Universtiy of Texas-El Paso. Buffalo is set to face Big Ten opponent Wisconsin, the Mountain West’s Utah as well as Northern Colorado of the Big Sky Conference and familiar opponent, UTEP, a foe the Bulls dropped a 5-0 match-up to at the Troy Cox Classic. The tournament is scheduled to commence on Friday, Feb. 23 and wrap-up on Sunday, Feb., 25.