Courtesy of UBBulls.com
BUFFALO, NY – Behind a career-high six RBI from senior second baseman Brian Dudek, the University at Buffalo baseball team (11-22, 3-6 MAC) picked up a dominant 14-6 victory over the Canisius Golden Griffins on Tuesday afternoon at the Demske Sports Complex. The UB offense produced 15 hits while notching at least 14 runs for the second time in their last three games.
Dudek had a huge day at the plate for the Bulls on Tuesday as he was able to go 3-for-5 with a career-high six RBI. The senior cleared the bases in each of the first two innings with a double and triple, respectively. Dudek raised his season batting average to .336 while ranking third on the Bulls with 29 RBI on the season.
The Bulls were able to score in the first inning for the third straight game on Tuesday as they notched four runs on just one hit, three walks and an error. Phillip Tomasulo, Ben Haefner and Vinny Mallaro each earned walks before Kyle Brennan forced an error at short to score Tomasulo from third base. Dudek then stepped in and delivered a bases clearing double into left field to give UB the 4-0 lead.
The lead didn’t last long though as the Griffs responded with four first inning runs of their own to tie things up, 4-4.
Buffalo wasted no time regaining the lead in the top of the second inning as they were able to put five runs on the board to take the dominant 9-4 lead over the Griffs. Brian Wasilewski doubled to start the inning before Tomasulo singled and stole second to give UB runners on second and third. Haefner was then able to single up the middle to plate a pair of runs. Mallaro earned a walk and Chris Kwitzer extended his season-long hitting streak to seven game with an infield single to load the bases for Dudek who ripped the bases clearing triple into right field.
After allowing two straight hits to open the bottom of the second, freshman pitcher Greg Dunham settled in and delivered three straight outs for the Bulls to send it to the third inning where UB produced four more runs to take the huge 13-4 lead. Haefner collected an RBI single to right field before Mallaro provided the big blow, a 3-run laser of a home run, to deep left field. The homer was Mallaro’s third in his last three games and he is now tied for the team lead (four) with Kwitzer.
Both pitching staffs settled in after UB extended their lead out to nine runs as neither team scored a run over the next three innings. The Griffs finally broke through with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning as Jake Burlingame tripled to open the inning and Mark McKenna singled to score the Griffs fifth run of the game as UB maintained the 13-5 lead.
Buffalo scored their final run of the game in the top of the ninth as Kyle Brennan opened the inning with a double before moving over to third on a Dudek single. Andrew Taft grounded into a double play but Brennan was able to score from third to make it 14-5. The Griffs added a run in the bottom half of the inning as UB earned the 14-6 victory on Tuesday night.
Mallaro continued to provide the Bulls with the pop they needed in the middle of their order as he finished the game going 1-for-3 with a home run, three RBI, three runs scored and two walks in the win. Over his last six games, Mallaro is batting .350 with three home runs, 15 RBI, nine runs scored and is slugging .900. The senior has now moved into 4th place on the all-time home runs list (22) as he passed former teammate Matt Pollock with his homer today and 4th place on the all-time RBI list (130).
Haefner continued to thrive in the three hole for the Bulls as he went 2-for-3 with three RBI, three runs and two walks as he now has a team-best eight multi-RBI games on the season. His 30 RBI on the season are also a career-high for the junior shortstop. Tomasulo finished his game going 2-for-5 with three runs scored and a walk while Brennan finished 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored in the win.
The Bulls used five different pitchers in the game as Andrew White was able to collect his first career win on the mound. White pitched a perfect fifth inning as he struck out a batter to collect the victory. Tom Taplin pitched a strong sixth inning as he allowed just one hit while Logan Harasta finished things off striking out four batters over the final two innings of the game.
The Bulls will return to the diamond on Friday afternoon at 3:00 pm as they welcome the Ball State Cardinals to Audobon Field to kick off a three-game MAC series. Charlie Sobieraski will take the mound for the Bulls on Friday.
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