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Softball Advances To Championship Round at UTEP Invitational

Despite facing a 12-8 deficit at the hands of the Bears heading into the seventh inning, the Bulls inked their first win of the season when a Northern Colorado player was ejected from the game and the Bears were unable to replace her, therefore awarding Buffalo the automatic victory in the single-elimination round.

Erin Zilka

In Sunday’s championship round of action, the fifth-seeded Bulls faced top-seeded Utah in the tournament’s single-elimination formatted round of play. Buffalo suffered a 10-1 setback at the hands of the Utes, squashing the chance of subsequent competition for the Bulls.

Leading up to Buffalo’s contest against Utah on Sunday, the Bulls commenced Saturday’s action with games against Wisconsin and Utah. UB fell to Wisconsin 13-4 and suffered a 9-5 setback to Utah.

After giving up six early runs to the Badgers, the Bulls eventually put one on the board in the top of the fourth, when sophomore Erin Zilka (Benicia, CA/Benicia) slapped a RBI single down the leftfield line that scored freshman Katie Ivancich (Dyer, IN/Andrean). Buffalo then gave up seven runs in the flip-side of the inning, allowing Wisconsin to increase its lead 13-1.

Marcy Hansen

In the top of the fifth, UB mounted a brief comeback, as three walks followed by a Sharon Barr (Coarsegold, CA/Yosemite Union) double helped the Bulls ink three in the scoring column. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for Buffalo, as the Bulls ultimately fell to the Badgers in five, 13-4.

Facing Utah, the defending Mountain West Conference champs, Buffalo owned the lead throughout much of the game, but came up short, giving up seven runs over the last two innings.

A four-hit first inning allowed Buffalo to pick up two runs in the first and a duo of second inning doubles allowed UB to take a 4-0 lead into the third. After scoring one more in the bottom of the fifth, it appeared as though the Bulls would pull out the victory, but a three-run sixth and a four-run seventh by the Utes was too much to handle, as Buffalo was upended by Utah 9-5.

Colleen Greene

Despite the setback, Colleen Greene (Cheektowaga, NY/Cleveland Hill) finished 3-for-4 in the game with a double and one RBI while Marcy Hansen (Claremont, CA/Claremont) struck a double, ending 3-for-3 with one RBI and a stolen base. Freshman Samantha Gaetano (Rochester, NY/Nazarath Academy) inked two stolen bases and went 1-for-3 from the plate.

The Bulls will enjoy a weekend off before heading to the Florida State Invitational in Tallahassee, FL. Buffalo is set to face nationally-ranked Georgia on Fri. March 9 with tournament action continuing through the 11th.