LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates baseball team scored two runs in the seventh to erase a 1-0 deficit, and added two more in the eighth for a 4-1 non-conference victory over Plymouth State University on Thursday at Leahey Field.
The Bobcats (11-10) climbed over the .500 mark for the first time, after beginning the season 0-6. Plymouth State dipped to 13-12.
With runners on second and third in the bottom of the seventh, first-year Brendan Fox (West Hartford, Conn.) greeted Panthers reliever Connor MacRae with a two-out single up the middle, scoring sophomores Conor Reenstierna (Lincoln, Mass.) and Evan Czopek (Portland, Ore.) with the go-ahead runs. Reenstierna had drawn a walk off of PSU starter Jeff Runnals, and Czopek had followed with a double to deep center field. Fox was thrown out at second trying to take an extra base to end the inning, but Bates had seized the lead for good.
The Bobcats added two insurance runs in the eighth. First-year John Dinucci (West Hartford, Conn.) was hit by a MacRae offering to lead off the inning, and he scored on senior Griff Tewksbury's (Concord, N.H.) triple to right field. Tewksbury then came home on a sacrifice fly by senior Kevin Davis (North Andover, Mass.) to make it 4-1.
Bates sophomore reliever Sam Berry (South Hamilton, Mass.) stayed on the mound for the top of the ninth. PSU designated hitter Jarek Krajewski led off the inning with his third single of the day, but Justin Walsh's grounder up the middle was stabbed by Reenstierna at second base, and Reenstierna's backhand flip to Fox at shortstop led to a rally-killing double play. Brandon Cox grounded out to end the game.
Berry (1-0) went the final three innings, holding PSU scoreless on one hit with three strikeouts, and he was the only Bates pitcher to throw any more or less than one inning. Six Bates pitchers handled the first six innings, beginning with sophomore starter Chris Ward (Pasadena, Calif.). Bates' seven pitchers combined to limit the Panthers to seven hits and just one walk, while totaling seven strikeouts.
Runnals (1-4) allowed only three hits in 6.2 innings of work but issued five walks. He was charged with two runs while striking out four.
The Panthers scored their run in the fourth off of Bates junior Dillon Dresser (Falmouth, Maine). Brian Thompson led off with a double that bounced in fair territory down the left-field line. Krajewski followed with a single up the middle, scoring Thompson with the first run of the game. Dresser plunked Walsh to put another runner on, but he then induced back-to-back fly balls to right field before striking out Austin Karls to end the threat.
Thompson (2-for-4) and Krajewski had five of the Panthers' seven hits in the game, while Czopek (2-for-2) was the lone Bobcat with multiple hits, collecting two of the team's five.
Ward, first-year Matt Doyle (Northborough, Mass.), sophomore Connor Colombo (Mendon, Mass.), sophomore Mark Cunningham (Canton, Mass.) and junior Aidan Sullivan (Yarmouth, Maine) all threw scoreless innings in the game for Bates.
Bates begins a three-game NESCAC East Division series with a nine-inning game at Trinity on Friday at 3pm.
