Stacia Saniuk '09

Game 1 Box Score (Bates 1, Thomas 0)

Game 2 Box Score (Bates 4, Thomas 1)

LEWISTON, Maine -- Bates College first-year Stacia Saniuk (Sharon, Mass.) broke a scoreless tie with a walkoff solo home run in the first game and Bates defeated Thomas College 4-1 in the second game for a doubleheader sweep of the Terriers Tuesday at Lafayette Street Field.

Saniuk led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a towering fly ball that cleared the center field fence. It was only the second hit for Bates and the fourth in the entire first game, as Bates junior Kristin Masino (North Arlington, N.J.) and Thomas senior Joy Ireland (Clinton, Maine) each had complete-game two-hitters. Masino (8-4) walked one and stuck out six over seven innings. Ireland struck out nine Bobcats with no walks over six-plus innings while earning the tough loss.

In the second game, Bates scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to break out of a 1-1 tie. Junior Katie Frankling (New Preston, Conn.) led off the inning with a single and Saniuk followed with a double. Senior Kyla Decato (Paris, Maine) reached on a fielder's choice that scored Franklin, and first-year Carola Cassaro (Port Washington, N.Y.), pinch-running for Saniuk, came home on a throwing error by Thomas first-year shortstop Brittany Morin (Winslow, Maine). Masino followed with an RBI single to center field to score Decato.

Masino started the game for Bates and went four shutout innings. Sophomore Kate Brown (Portland, Maine) earned her first win of the season with three innings of relief. Thomas first-year pitcher Janis Blake (Norridgewock, Maine) took the loss, allowing four runs, three earned, on eight hits over six innings.

Bates had a 1-0 lead heading into the sixth, due to Saniuk driving in Franklin, who had doubled, with an RBI single in the fourth. Thomas evened the game in the sixth when sophomore Lindsay Sierra (Turner, Maine), who had walked, came home from third on a wild pitch.

The Bobcats have won four games in a row and end the day above .500 for the first time this season, at 10-8. The Terriers dropped to 11-15.

Bates will play a NESCAC doubleheader at Colby College on Thursday.