SOFTBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

AKRON, OH - The University at Buffalo softball team gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth inning en route to a 3-2 loss in the opener of a Mid-American Conference doubleheader this afternoon with the Akron Zips, but the Bulls came back with a vengeance to score a 9-0 win in game two. The Zips (26-12, 16-4 MAC) entered the game ranked 10th in the NCAA's Mideast Region and in first place in the MAC's East Division. Buffalo freshman Ann Marie Magur (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott/Connecticut) drove in four runs in the nightcap with two doubles and a home run to lead the Bulls' attack. The split gives Buffalo a 10-24 overall record and a 5-15 league mark.

Jackie O'Brien

The Bulls got on the board first in the opener when freshman Jackie O'Brien (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem Central) doubled to left field to drive in Magur, who had led off the second inning with a single. A solo home run by Kerstin Sewell and an RBI-single by Rianne Hess put Akron up 2-1 in the bottom of the third, but the Bulls tied things up with a solo home run to right center by sophomore Allison Round (Markham, Ontario/Markham District) in the sixth. The Zips then scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the inning when Melissa Hurley crossed the plate on a passed ball. Akron's Lisa Keenan earned the complete-game victory on the mound, allowing six hits and striking out eight. Buffalo sophomore Heather Robbins (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) suffered the loss despite allowing just four hits and two earned runs and striking out six.

The Bulls then scored four runs in the first and two runs in the second before finishing things off with three runs in the sixth inning of the nightcap. Freshman pitcher Stacey Evans (Collinsville, IL/Triad) allowed just three hits and struck out seven for her fifth victory of the year.

Ann Magur

The Bulls had 12 hits in the game, including four doubles, a triple and a home run. A single by freshman Julie Hibner (Salem, OR/South Salem), a two-RBI double by Round and a single by O'Brien drove in runs in the first, and a triple by sophomore Breanne Nasti (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) and a double by Magur plated runs in the second inning. Magur completed the Bulls' offensive attack with a three-run homer in the sixth, scoring freshman Melissa Pace (Long Beach, CA/Millikan), who led off the inning with a double, and Nasti, who followed Pace with a single.

The Bulls and the Zips will finish their three-game series with a single game on Wednesday, May 1, starting at 2 pm.