John Adryan's two home runs highlight doubleheader sweep against Buffalo on Saturday.
An unseasonably cold weekend threw Ohio for a curve.
After Ohio lost to Buffalo 9-3 on Friday, Saturday’s game was postponed due to a wind chill factor in the 20s.
During Sunday’s doubleheader, the air felt just as cold, but at least for Ohio, John Adryan’s hot bat provided all the heat it needed.
Ohio took both games of the doubleheader 3-1 and 6-5 en route to a series win against Buffalo. The Bobcats now stand at 14-17 and 4-5 in the MAC.
Despite a walk-off win in the second game, it was the two home runs of Adryan — one in each game — that stole the show.
Adryan’s first home cleared the protective netting over the left field wall, most likely carrying over 350 feet. His second home run carried into the protective netting about 15 feet over the outfield wall.
His two home runs put him at 11 on the year, placing him in the top 10 for home run leaders in the nation.
Adryan went three-for-eight Saturday, scoring three times, including the tying run in the second game of the doubleheader.
“At the end of the day,” he said, “I try to do whatever the team needs me to do to get a win. If they want me to bunt or hit singles. Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do.”
Ohio nearly needed Adryan to get the game winning hit during the second game, but he was able to celebrate in the on-deck circle. With Rudy Rott at the plate and runners on the corners, a wild pitch allowed Mitch Longo to score.
Longo had struggled in the game, as his sixth inning fly out with the bases loaded had left him visibly frustrated. In the ninth inning, he laced a double to right centerfield and would eventually score the winning run.
It was Adryan who approached Longo in the dugout to keep his spirits up.
“I’m not going to get beat by that guy again," Longo said Adryan told him. “He beat me that first at-bat, but I saw everything he had. I knew he wasn’t going to beat me again”
It wasn't not just emotions that Adryan lifted. It was also Ohio’s offense.
Ohio had seven hits and just three runs on Friday afternoon. On Sunday, the Bobcats combined for nine runs and 21 hits.
“When you get a guy that can change the game with a swing, that’s a big difference," coach Rob Smith said. "The best thing about (Adryan) is that there hasn’t been any cheap ones and there hasn’t been one that didn’t matter. I think all 11 of them have come in game-changing situations.”
With Ohio’s record a little bit more respectable, a game changer is exactly what it needs if it wants to clinch a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
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