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Softball Opens Up Play In CA

The Bulls came up short in the day’s first game, dropping a 6-5 extra-inning heartbreaker to Utah Valley and later falling to host UC-Riverside 3-0.

In game one, Buffalo got off to a hot start, tacking one on the board in the top of the first, as Mary Russell (Apalachin, NY) led-off the game with a bloop-single to centerfield. Russell then scored as freshman Alex Bejarano (Chandler, AZ) roped her fifth double of the season to left-center for the game’s first RBI.

The Bulls built on their lead in the top of the second, as Sharon Barr (Coarsegold, CA/ Yosemite Union) got the inning going with a single. Barr was able to advance to second on an illegal pitch and later scored when Ashley Kanavy (Syracuse, NY/Westhill) put the ball in play, forcing the Wolverines’ second baseman to make an error that allowed Barr to plate the run.

Mary Russell

After Utah Valley inked one run in the bottom of the second, the Bulls struck again in the top of the third. Russell got the ball rolling, leading the inning off with a walk. After stealing her second base of the game, Bejarano advanced Russell with a single up the middle. Catcher Erin Zilka (Benicia, CA/Benicia) then brought both Russell and Bejarano home with a long bases-clearing double to right field to give UB the 4-1 advantage. Zilka was later bought home by Kristen Gallipanni’s (Brewster, NY/Brewster) single to leftfield to give the Bulls a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the third.

The Wolerines tacked two more on the board in the fourth and one in the fifth, but solid Buffalo pitching from UB sophomore Katie Ivancich (Dyer, IN/Prospect) got the Bulls out of numerous bases-loaded jams and enabled Buffalo to take a 5-4 lead into the sixth.

Utah Valley State, however, strung together a rally in the bottom of the seventh, tying the game, 5-5 and after the Bulls came up short in the top of the eighth, the Wolverines scored in the bottom stanza to take the 6-5 extra-inning contest.

In the nightcap, the Bulls took on the host Highlanders. After battling through five and a half scoreless innings, UC-Riverside broke the stalemate on a two-out, three-run homer over the left field fence.

Freshman Stephanie Visperas (Newark, CA/Newark Memorial) pitched the complete game four-hitter for Buffalo while classmate Candice Sheehan (Orange, CA/El Modena) had two hits in the game.

The Bulls will face Iowa on Saturday. Game time is set for 1:00 pm.