UB Bulls drop series finale to Kent State, 12-2

Courtesy of UBBulls.com

KENT, OH – The University at Buffalo baseball team fell in the series finale to the first-placed Kent State Golden Flashes on Sundat afternoon at Schoonover Stadium by the score of 12-2. With their third straight loss, the Bulls fall to 14-29 overall and 6-15 in MAC play.

The Golden Flashes opened up the scoring on Sunday in the second inning as they earned a single, a balk and another single to make the score 1-0 in favor of the home team. Kent State was then able to blow the game open in the third inning as they notched seven runs on nine hits and an error in the inning.

The Bulls were able to collect singles from Chris Kwitzer and Kyle Brennan in the fifth inning but they weren’t able to score a run, keeping the score 8-0 in favor of the Flashes.

After a scoreless sixth inning, the Flashes added two to their lead in the seventh and two in the eighth to make the score 12-0 in favor of the home team.

Buffalo was finally able to break through with their first two runs of the game in the top of the ninth inning as Vinny Mallaro singled up the middle before Kwitzer crushed his third home run of the season over the right field fence to make the score 12-2. Kwitzer now has 19 RBI on the season, ranking third on the team.

Kwitzer finished off his day at the plate going 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and a run while shortstop Bobby Sheppard continued his hot streak at the dish, going 2-for-4. Sheppard improved on his team-best batting average, moving it up to a career-best .337 on the year.

Mallaro was able to extend his hitting streak to 12 games and his reaching base safely streak to 22 straight games in the loss as he went 1-for-3 with a run and a walk at the plate.

Shawn Dubin picked up the loss on the mound for the Bulls as he went 5.0 innings and allowed eight runs while striking out five Kent State batters. Ben Vey, Ben Hartz and Blair Lakso each pitched one inning of relief in the loss, combining for three strikeouts.

The Bulls will return to the diamond on Tuesday afternoon as they play host to the Niagara Purple Eagles at Amherst Audobon Field for a doubleheader. The first game of the doubleheader will start at 3:00 pm followed by the second game, a half hour after the completion of game one. Both games will be seven inning contests.