The Buffalo Bulls baseball team was a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the University at Buffalo in Amherst, New York, United States. From 2001 to 2017, the team was a member of the Mid-American Conference East division, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level. The Bulls played their home games at Amherst Audubon Field on the UB campus. The Bulls were coached by Ron Torgalski for the program's final 11 seasons, from 2007 through 2017. At the conclusion of the 2017 season, the program was eliminated by the university.
History The year 1949 is considered the official inaugural season of UB varsity baseball. But baseball’s start at UB goes back much further. There are newspaper accounts of a UB team from as early as 1894. From 1914–1917, several good UB teams took to the diamond playing some of the best teams in the country including Pitt, Army, Michigan State and Syracuse."1914 Buffalo Baseball ," University at Buffalo Digital Collections – March 19, 2014."1915 Buffalo Baseball ," University at Buffalo Digital Collections – February 5, 2015."1916 Buffalo Baseball ," University at Buffalo Digital Collections – July 11, 2013."1917 Buffalo Baseball ," University at Buffalo Digital Collections – April 30, 2014. The Bulls qualified for the NCAA Division I baseball tournament in 1971 and 1973.
Year-by-year results
Bulls in Major League Baseball The first Buffalo alumnus to appear in Major League Baseball (MLB) was Bill Schuster, who debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1937. The most notable Buffalo alumnus from the pre-draft era was Eddie Basinski, who picked up 147 hits in 203 games with the Pirates and Brooklyn Dodgers between 1944 and 1947. However, both players attended Buffalo before the school sponsored a baseball program.
Since the Major League Baseball draft began in 1965, Buffalo has had 33 players selected. Bulls in the Major League Baseball Draft Year Player Round Team 1967 59 Mets 1968 7 Phillies 1968 4 Giants 1968 8 Mets 1969 2 Red Sox 1970 38 Orioles 1970 25 Brewers 1970 6 Pirates 1973 25 Pirates 1976 38 Dodgers 1976 22 Dodgers 1976 19 Red Sox 1976 14 Indians 1979 28 Athletics 1979 19 Giants 1980 18 Dodgers 1980 5 Blue Jays 1980 2 Expos 1981 6 Cubs 1982 27 Orioles 1983 29 Braves 1983 3 Reds 1985 18 Cubs 1986 7 Orioles 2005 34 Mets 2007 42 Cardinals 2009 29 Blue Jays 2012 3 Rockies 2013 20 Twins 2014 30 Orioles 2014 14 Twins 2015 22 Blue Jays 2016 15 Angels
Joe Hesketh, a 1980 draftee of the Montreal Expos, played in MLB as a left-handed pitcher from 1984 to 1994. Pitcher Steve Geltz played for the Bulls and was undrafted in 2008. He made his Major League debut in 2012 for the Los Angeles Angels.
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