Sports
Ohio Takes Two of Three from Buffalo
By: Nick Ursini
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Despite cold weather and a cancellation on Saturday, the Ohio Bobcats defeated the Buffalo Bulls twice on Sunday to earn two out of three wins over the weekend.
Friday was a rough showing for the ‘Cats. They got down 5-0 after three innings and ended up losing 9-3. The Bulls pounded out nine runs on 11 hits and six walks. Meanwhile, the Bobcats stranded seven runners on base.
Starting pitcher Jake Miller fell to 2-5 on the year with the loss. He struck out two while allowing five earned runs on eight hits and two walks over four innings. Relief pitcher Gerry Salisbury came in and threw four scoreless innings, striking out five batters.
The Bobcats cut the deficit to four runs after scoring two runs in the eight, but Buffalo scored two more runs in the top of the ninth to make the final score 9-3.
The second game between the Bobcats and the Bulls was scheduled to take place on Saturday, but due to low temperatures, the game was postponed until Sunday at noon.
Game one of the double header was a 3-1 Ohio victory, as Jake Rudnicki and Charlie Sobieraski squared off in a pitchers’ duel. Rudnicki went 7 innings, allowed one run on five hits and struck out six. Sobieraski gave up three earned runs on eight hits in seven innings.
The game remained scoreless until Buffalo right fielder Vinny Mallaro smacked a solo homerun over the left field wall in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the same inning, third baseman John Adryan came up with a runner on first and sent the ball over the left field wall for his 10th homerun of the season, giving the Bobcats the 2-1 lead.
An RBI single from left fielder Mitch Longo tacked on another run which would be the final run of the game. The Bobcats evened the series up, making the third and final game of the series, the rubber game.
Senior Connor Sitz took the mound for the ‘Cats and started out strong, striking out five through the first two innings. Sitz pitched 5.1 innings allowing eight hits and four runs while totaling six strikeouts. Again the game started out slow, but in the fourth inning, Buffalo crossed the plate three times to give the Bulls the lead.
John Adryan came up in the bottom of the fourth inning and had a déjà vu moment. The third baseman hit his second homerun of the afternoon, cutting the lead to just one run.
Following two runs from the Bulls, Ohio came up in the bottom of the 7th and tied it up after a wild pitch and a single by catcher Cody Gaertner.
The game remained tied till the bottom of the ninth inning. Mitch Longo led off the inning with a double to the left field gap. Manny De Jesus then came up and beat out a sac bunt. With Rudy Rott at the plate, the first pitch of the at bat got past the catcher, and Longo sprinted home and gave the Bobcats the 6-5 victory.
The victory gave the ‘Cats the series win, improving their record to 14-17 overall and 4-5 in MAC play.
Ohio will start a four game away stretch on Tuesday when it faces the Dayton Flyers.