 |
 |
|
Hogan
|
VanderVliet
|
 |
 |
|
Mahoney
|
Hood
|
 |
 |
|
Murphy-Romboletti
|
McCormack
|
MEDFORD, Mass. -- Senior 2B Denis Hogan (Franklin, Mass.) went 4 for 4 with two home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored, senior Sean VanderVliet (Meriden, N.H.) pitched seven strong innings, and senior Brian Mahoney (Sudbury, Mass.) set the Bates College career hits record as the Bobcat baseball team earned an 8-6 win at Tufts in a NESCAC East Division game on Saturday afternoon at Huskins Field.
VanderVliet went seven innings, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out seven, to raise his record to 3-0 in his first three starts, already a personal record for victories in a season.
Mahoney, senior 1B Erik Hood (Berlin, N.H.) and senior CF Casey McCormack (Keene, N.H.) had two hits each for Bates. Mahoney's 2-for-5 day gave him 136 career hits, vaulting him over Nate Maxwell '04's mark of 135 for the all-time record at Bates.
Jumbo senior Adam Telian (Stoughton, Mass.) matched him in a decent pitcher's duel until the bottom of the sixth inning. A three-run home run by Hogan -- his second of the game, and the third of his college career -- was the centerpiece of a five-run Bates sixth that gave the Bobcats a 7-2 lead. Hogan had led off the bottom of the first with a solo shot.
Tufts put the potential winning run on base in the top of the ninth when the Bates bullpen got wild with three walks and two hit batters in the inning. However, junior Chuck Murphy-Romboletti (Holyoke, Mass.) got the final out on a pop-up for his first career save and Bates had its first win over the Jumbos since 2004. That broke their nine-game losing streak to Tufts.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at Bates, but was moved to Tufts due to snow on the field in Lewiston, Maine. Bates remained as the home team on the scoreboard.
The Jumbos scored in the first on a walk by junior SS Kevin Casey (Milford, Mass.) and a sacrifice fly by sophomore Corey Pontes (Milton, Mass.). Hogan's first homer tied it for Bates.
Tufts scored an unearned run in the fifth as Casey again walked, went to third on a single by Pontes and scored on an infield error. Bates tied it in the bottom of the inning and Hogan was again in the middle of it, hitting a one-out single and scoring on a base hit by Hood. The Bobcats would break it open in the sixth and hold on for the win.
Casey finished 2 for 2 with three runs scored for Tufts, while Pontes had two hits and junior CF Dave Katzman (North Andover, Mass.) finished with two RBI. Telian took the loss, dropping to 2-2.
BOX SCORE: Bates 8, Tufts 6
