BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo softball team suffered two one-run loses this afternoon at Ohio, losing 1-0 in 12 innings in the opener and dropping a 2-1 decision in the nightcap. The two loses move the Bulls to 13-18 overall and 4-6 in the Mid-American Conference, while Ohio ups its record to 12-22 overall and 6-5 in the MAC.

The opener remained a scoreless tie through 11 innings before the Bobcats finally scored in the bottom of the 12th. A sacrifice bunt by Jennifer Tisevich moved Kiersten Scrima, who began the inning on second according to tiebreaker rules, to third, and Scrima then scored the game-winning run on a single to center by Erin Chapman. The Bulls had threatened in the top half of the 12th when the bases were loaded following intentional walks to junior Ann Magur (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott/Connecticut) and senior Allison Round (Markham, Ontario/Markham District). Senior Dominique Jones (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt), who began the inning on second and moved to third on a groundout by senior Breanne Nasti (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin), was then thrown out at the plate trying to score on a flyout to right field by junior Melissa Pace (Long Beach, CA/Millikan).

Ann Magur

Junior Stacey Evans (Collinsville, IL/Triad) went the distance for the Bulls, allowing five hits and striking out eight batters. Natalie Armstrong was credited with the win for the Bobcats, pitching the final seven innings without giving up a hit and striking out eight.

In the nightcap, the Bobcats put two runs across the plate in the second inning, with Shannon Weidner scoring on a Buffalo error and Emily Futscher scoring on a single to right by Sarah Melvin. The Bulls scored their first run of the afternoon in the top of the fifth on an RBI-single by Magur that scored freshman Mary Russell (Apalachin, NY/Owego Free Academy), who had reached base with a double to left center. The Bobcats held on to the one-run lead, however, behind the pitching of Armstrong, who recorded her fourth save of the year after allowing two hits in the final three innings. Starter Candy Warden got the win, allowing just one hit and no runs in the first four innings of the game. Buffalo freshman Sophie Barstad (Canby, OR/Canby) took the loss, allowing just two hits and no earned runs and striking out two in the complete game.

The Bulls and the Bobcats will conclude their three-game series with a single game tomorrow at 1 pm.