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·The Week Past·
Rained Out vs. St. Bonaventure

·On Deck·
4/11 vs. Canisius (DH) 3:00 pm
4/12 at Syracuse (DH) 4:00 pm
4/15 vs. Niagara (DH) 1:00 pm

Weather Pushes Home Opener

The Bulls expected to play their first home game in 14 years last Wednesday against St. Bonaventure. But Mother Nature had other ideas with a combination of rain, snow and heavy winds making conditions unfavorable for softball. The contest with the Bonnies was canceled giving the Bulls an extra week to prepare for this week's six games, including Tuesday's doubleheader against Canisius.

Madden, Lawrence Earn All-Tournament Honors

Two Bulls garnered All-Tournament honors at the Colgate Invitational. Junior second baseman Stacee Madden (Corning, NY/East) and junior catcher Kim Lawrence (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) were among the 14 players named to the team.

Madden, hitting third in the lineup much of the tournament, went 7-for-22 at the plate includiing a double, collected four RBIs and scored three times. She also hit safely in the first five contests of the six game tourney.

Lawrence, batting fifth in coach Marie Curran's lineup, was 4-of-20 with two RBIs and two runs scored during the tournament. Defensively, she collected 21 putouts from her catcher's position.

At the Plate

As a team, the Bulls are hitting .271 on the season. Danielle Haynes (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca West) leads the team with a .382 average and 26 hits. Kelly Malone (Waterford, MI/Waterford Kettering) still leads UB in homers (4) and has 12 RBIs although she has missed the last 14 games. With her four RBIs in the Colgate Invitational, Madden has taken over the team lead with 13 and also has five doubles. She also had a five game hitting streak broken in the last game of the tourney. Haynes is 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts and has scored a team-high 15 runs.

On the Mound

The Bulls' pitching staff holds a team earned run average of 6.47 this season. Jessica York (South Dayton, NY/Pine Valley) leads the squad at 4.75 with a 1-4 record. Jessica Kensy (Cheektowaga, NY/Maryvale) lowered her ERA to 5.89 and is now 2-7. Andrea Sage (Depew, NY/Depew) is 1-11 on the hill with a 7.85 mark and a team-best 22 strikeouts.

Rewriting the Record Books

With the season just hitting the halfway mark, several single-season records have already fallen this year.

During the Bulls spring break openers in Florida, Malone became the single-season and career leader in home runs with four surpassing Karen Macris' total of three in both categories. The five doubles by Madden this season ties the single-season mark set by Robin Dulmage in 1980. Dulmage, Grace Hanlon and Joyce Stronka hold the career record with eight apiece. With 26 hits this season, Haynes is now tied for fourth on the single-season chart with Marie Bajko (1980) and Patty Murphy (1985). She is ten hits shy of passing Macris' 1985 total of 35 for first place. Murphy holds the career mark with 59.

In the field, first baseman Tina Breakell (Schenectady, NY/Guilderland) has already become the single-season leader with 148 putouts passing Rachael Walter's 1986 mark of 139. Pam Gabel holds the career mark with 244. Lisa Cox (Getzville, NY/Williamsville North) now has 58 assists from her shortstop position making her the single-season leader in that department. Linda Grimmer had 56 in 1985 and Kim Ring (1983-85) holds the career mark with 100.

Up Next

With the weather putting the brakes on UB's home opener against St. Bonaventure, the Bulls will christen UB Softball Stadium, on Tuesday with a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader against Canisius. The Griffs defeated the Bulls 6-1 and 8-0 in a doubleheader at the Demske Complex on March 30.

The Bulls then travel to Syracuse to face the Orangewomen in doubleheader on Wednesday. Like UB, Syracuse is in their first year of Division I softball and is also playing an independent schedule in 2000. They will join the Big East next season.

UB returns home for a doubleheader against Niagara on Saturday April 15 at 1:00 pm.