By: Andrew Mullane
The Buffalo Bisons took on the Syracuse Mets here at Sahlen's Felid in downtown Buffalo. The Bisons won 7-4. It was lacrosse night tonight at the stadium and the Bisons are helping celebrate the Buffalo Bandits 2023 NLL Final Championship by wearing special jerseys. Star forward Dhane Smith of the Bandits threw the first pitch prior to the game getting the crowd into it from the jump.
Casey Lawrence started on the mound for the Bisons, while David Peterson started for the Mets. The Bisons did very well in the top of the first inning holding the Mets to one hit. Ronny Mauricio of the Mets stole second base and attempted to steal thrid but was thrown out by the Bisons Catcher. Jordan Luplow hit a ball deep to left felid and Otto Lopez was able to score 1-0 Bisons after one.
Lawrence started to switch up his pitches and really took advantage of his situation striking out a hitter in the top of the second. The Mets were able to get the bases loaded but good defense by Buffalo ultimately led to 0 runs for the Mets. A couple hits for the Bisons, but it was Rafael Lantigua's base hit resulting in two more RBI's 3-0 Bisons. During the break Chris Cloutier and Brad McCulley of the Bandits came out and did a promotional event and reved up the Buffalo Crowd.
A quick 1,2,3 top of the third for the Bisons as they shut down the Mets quickly. Mets Pitcher Peterson threw back to back strikeouts in the bottom of the third shining.
Casey Lawrence threw two strikeouts in the top of the fourth and the Mets could not get anything going only getting a couple hits but no runs for the effort. Trevor Schwecke hit a home run deep to the left felid giving the Bisons a 5-0 lead.
Another quick 1,2,3, Inning for the Bisons as the Mets just could not get anything going. The Bisons struggled to get anything going this time around and a quick 1,2,3 Inning for the Mets.
Ronny Mauricio started the top of the sixth Inning with a Home Run putting the Mets on the board 5-1 Bisons. Jaylin Davis of the Mets hit a sacrifice fly bringing in Luke Voit 5-2 Bisons. The Bisons could not get anything going in the bottom of the inning a quick 1,2,3 Inning for the Mets. The Bisons ended Casey Lawrence day with 6 innings pitched, 3 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 4 batters walked and 7 strikeouts.
The Mets could not get any momentum in this inning as the Bisons caught two fly outs and striking out one. Davis Schneider hit a double to the left felid that led to Otto Lopez scoring 6-2 Bisons. The bases were loaded for Luis De Los Santos with two outs and he struck out.
Ronny Mauricio hit his second home run of the night to the dismissal of the Bisons fans who were not excited to see his second Home Run of the night. The bottom of the eighth saw the Bisons get a couple of hits and Otto Lopez hit a triple that led to Trevor Schwecke scoring 7-3 Bisons.
The ninth Inning saw the Mets Tomas Nido hit a solo home run 7-4. The bisons ultimately won the game after two strikeouts were thrown.
After the game Starting Pitcher Casey Lawrence talked about his 7 strikeouts "Just following the game plan like we talked about before the game, second time facing these guys learning a little bit about these hitters got some information from tonight for next time. It's those things, that looking for little edges and looking to build off a couple of my last outings and get things rolling". Casey also talked about the Bandits fans and players in attendance "The atmosphere was great, I made a joke we got to play a little better to get these fans to come back, so hopefully tonight put a good product on the felid come out with a win with a great atmosphere, it gives you a little more pep in your step when you got a little bigger or rowdier crowd, it sure seemed like the Bandits enjoyed it with some beverages and we are glad they were able to come out and Congratulations to them."
The herd are back in action tomorrow night at 7:05 PM for a Friday night Bash date with the Syracuse Mets.