Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
MOUNT BERRY, Ga. — Sophomore Steve Burke (Bedford, N.H.) singled home first-year Nate Pajka (Douglas, Mass.) for the winning run in the top of the eighth inning, and Bates got out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the inning with a game-ending double play, as the Bates College baseball team earned a split in Tuesday's season-opening doubleheader at Berry College. Berry (5-4) won Game 1 by an 8-0 score before Bates (1-1) won Game 2 by a 5-4 score in the extra eighth inning.
Sophomore Griff Tewksbury (Concord, N.H.) hit a solo home run in the fourth inning of Game 2 to move Bates ahead of a 3-3 tie, but the Vikings retied the game at 4-4 in the sixth inning on a triple by Stephen Gaylor, followed by Austin Neely's RBI single.
Pajka got a one-out, pinch hit single to right field in the top of the eighth, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Josh Dilbeck came in relief of T.J. Page, but Burke greeted him with a single to left that scored Pajka. Page got the next two batters to end the inning, but Bates had its would-be winning run.
Cason Dremann led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk off of Bates sophomore Brad Reynolds (Louisville, Colo.), then his pinch runner, Sam Williamson, got to second base on a sacrifice. Gaylor followed with a double down the right-field line, but Williamson didn't advance past third base. Neely was intentionally walked by Reynolds to load the bases for Thomas Johnson, and Reynolds induced Johnson into a game-ending, 6-4-3 double play.
Right out of the gate, Bates looked like a different team as it scored the game's first run in the opening inning on a sacrifice fly by Reynolds, who started the game as an outfielder. Berry stayed in the game though, responding with a run of its own in the bottom half on a Zach Farmer RBI double to right center field.
The two teams again exchanged runs in the third inning. Bates scored two runs in the top half due in large part to two Berry errors and a passed ball. Berry had a response, tying the game 3-3 when Jonathan Stump brought home a run on a sacrifice fly and McDuffie delivered a RBI single to left.
This back-and-forth took yet another turn when Tewksbury slugged out a one-out, first-pitch Levi Austin offering over the right-field fence for a solo home run to give the Bobcats a 4-3 advantage.
Sophomore outfielder Jeff Clausen (Southold, N.Y.) had two of Bates' six hits in Game 2.
In Game 1, Berry scored two runs in the first inning and added four in the third for a commanding 6-0 lead, getting nine hits off of Bates senior righthanded starter Karl Alexander (Cambridge, Mass.) in his 2.2 innings of work.
Berry starter Trent Hillis (2-1) held the Bobcats scoreless on five hits over six innings, striking out four, and Josh Dilbeck pitched a scoreless seventh.
Berry inflicted its most substantial damage against Bates' pitching in the third inning. Four runs scored, including one on Preston Neely's line drive double over junior shortstop Ryan Sonberg's (Windsor, Conn.) head and two more on a laser of a double by Drew McDuffie.
Bates threatened to get some runs across the plate in the top half of the fifth, loading the bases with one out. However, Hillis managed to strand all three runners and leave that inning untouched.
Berry tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a Dremann RBI groundout and another RBI single by Farmer, giving the team an 8-0 lead.
First-year Rockwell Jackson (Fort Worth, Texas) got two of Bates' two hits, making his collegiate debut as Bates' designated hitter and batting second in the lineup. Sophomore lefthander Tom Baroni (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) allowed no runs over his 2.1 innings of relief. Pajka hit a double and was 2-for-4 on the day.
The teams will meet again for the rubber game Wednesday at 2pm.
Game 1 Box Score: Berry 8, Bates 0
Game 2 Box Score: Bates 5, Berry 4
