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When the baseball schedule was released earlier this year Buffalo was saddled with the unenviable tasks of taking on Ball State and Central Michigan during the early part of the conference schedule. A fantastic game by Mike Burke saw the Bulls recover from an eight run deficit in game one of last weeks series. UB split the series with the cards and now stand at 3-2 in MAC play.
| Starters | CMU | Record | ERA | Buffalo | Record | ERA | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | RHP Jordan Foley (Jr.) | 3-2 | 3.53 | vs. | Mike McGee | 1-3 | 5.67 | |
| Game 2 | RHP Pat Kaminska (Sr.) | 5-1 | 1.84 | vs. | Anthony Magovney | 5-0 | 1.16 | |
| Game 3 | LHP Nick Deeg (Fr.) | 3-1 | 3.38 | vs. | Mike Burke | 3-2 | 1.71 |
Central Michigan has been rolling through their first two weeks. CMU is 6-0 behind what is arguabally the best pitching in the Mid American Conference. CMU’s team ERA is a MAC-best 2.66, Buffalo is third in the conference at 4.05. For UB the question is the depth on the bench as the Bulls top two pitchers lead the MAC in ERA.
Where the separation occurs for these teams is the field, not at the mound.
UB actually is doing a better job at keeping opposing teams from getting hits but the Bulls have had some very costly errors and more that a few runs of untimely walks.
CMU's main threats at the plate are Cody Leichman and Logan Regnier. Leichman is hitting .370 (34-for-92) with three home runs, nine doubles and 29 RBIs. Leichman’s average places him sixth among MAC hitters, and his .580 slugging percentage is fourth.
Central came into this season as a strong club which many favored to win the conference. In the MAC East teams like Miami and Kent will be strong but have shown some weakness. If the Bulls can steal one in Mount Pleasant, or perhaps even win the series it would be like last season when a UB sweep of Kent showed that the then surprising Bulls would be a factor in the MAC title race.
