Tom Beaton '10 had a hit and an RBI during Bates' four-run ninth inning.

BRUNSWICK, Maine -- Bowdoin scored four times in the first inning and eventually built an 8-0 lead en route to an 8-4 win over the Bates baseball team on Friday afternoon, but the Bobcats' hopes for postseason play are still alive.

The Bobcats fall to 22-9 (5-5 NESCAC) with their first loss in nine games. Because Trinity lost at Tufts on Friday, Bates can still finish in second place in the NESCAC East, and therefore make the four-team NESCAC Championship, if the Bobcats sweep the Polar Bears in Saturday's doubleheader in Lewiston. The first game starts at 12 p.m. All the action can be followed online via Live Stats and Audio Webcast.

Friday's win moves the Polar Bears to 22-11 (5-5 NESCAC) this season, and Bowdoin now needs just one win against Bates in tomorrow's doubleheader to clinch a postseason playoff bid.

Brendan Garner reached base five times for Bowdoin and stole two bases while Matt Ruane reached four times.  Carter Butland earned the win thanks to 8.1 innings, allowing no earned runs. Junior Paul Chiampa (Pembroke, Mass.) took the loss for Bates, dropping to 4-3 on the season, after allowing 10 hits and six earned runs over six innings. Junior Chris Burke (North Andover, Mass.) led the Bobcats with a pair of hits.

The Polar Bears wasted little time piecing together a first-inning rally, getting run-scoring singles from Brett Gorman, Joe Comizio, Kevin Zikaras and a sacrifice fly from Danny Findley to take a four-run lead. Ben Higgins plated Zikaras with a third-inning single before Garner scampered home on a wild pitch in the sixth. Garner collected an RBI single in the eighth as Bowdoin upped their lead to 8-0.

Bates was able to mount a four-run rally in the ninth with junior Noah Lynd (Meriden, N.H.) delivering a two-run single to spark the Bobcats, following a pair of one-run singles by senior Tom Beaton (West Newbury, Mass.) and Chris Burke. But Joe Pace came in to squelch the comeback, getting junior Jake Simon (Westford, Conn.) to ground into a fielder's choice to Gorman with runners on first and second to end the game.

Bowdoin is looking for their fourth trip to the NESCAC Tournament and first since 2007.

BOX SCORE: Bowdoin 8, Bates 4