HARTFORD, Conn. – Bates College baseball won game one in extra innings, 12-7, while Trinity College took game two in extra frames, 2-1, in a NESCAC East Division doubleheader at Campus Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Bobcats (13-11, 4-3 NESCAC East) struck for six runs in the top of the eighth and final inning in game one while the Bantams (10-16, 4-8 NESCAC East) walked off with a Scott Huley single in the bottom of the ninth in game two.
Bates took the series, 2-1, after besting Trinity, 9-2, on Friday afternoon. The Bobcats now sit in sole possession of second place in the NESCAC East Division – two games up in the loss column on both Bowdoin and Colby.
Next, Bates plays at Endicott on Monday at 3 p.m.
Game One Recap – Bates 12, Trinity 7 (8 innings)
First-year Brendan Fox (West Hartford, Conn.) went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, senior Griff Tewksbury (Concord, N.H.) hit his fifth home run of the season, and Bates topped Trinity 12-7 in eight innings in game one.
Junior Mekae Hyde (Lewiston, Maine) recorded three hits and three runs scored while classmates Rockwell Jackson (Fort Worth, Texas) and Nate Pajka (Douglas, Mass.), senior Steve Burke (Bedford, N.H.), and sophomore Conor Reenstierna (Lincoln, Mass.) each notched two hits as the Bobcats tallied 17 total hits.
Senior left-hander Chris Fusco (Annapolis, Md.) pitched five innings in the start, allowing three runs on six hits while sophomore reliever Rob DiFranco (Melrose, Mass.) picked up the win (3-1).
Trinity starter Peter Burrow gave up six runs, three earned, over 4.2 innings. Chris Gallic absorbed the loss (0-2). Huley and Carson Kenne each had three hits for the Bantams.
After Trinity plated a run in the bottom of the first, the Bobcats responded with three runs in the top of the second and did not trail the rest of the way. Fox drove in Bates' first run with a sacrifice fly to left field before another run scored on an error, and Jackson brought home a run with an RBI single.
Bates pushed its lead to 6-1 with three runs in the top of the fifth. Tewksbury led off the inning with a solo shot. Later in the frame, Hyde scored on a balk, and Fox registered his second RBI with a single.
Trinity worked its way back into the game over the next three innings as the Bantams plated a run in the fifth, two in the sixth, and another two in the seventh to tie the game at 6-6 and send it into extra innings.
The Bobcats answered with six runs in the top of the eighth beginning with a Pajka RBI single after Tewksbury doubled. Sophomore Evan Czopek (Portland, Ore.) followed with an RBI single of his own to score Tewksbury. Burke brought in a run after absorbing a pitch, and Fox, Reenstierna, and Jackson all notched RBI singles to cap the Bobcats' scoring.
Sophomore right-hander Samuel Warren (Norfolk, Va.) came in for the bottom of the eighth and held Trinity to one run on three hits.
Game Two Recap – Trinity 2, Bates 1 (9 inn.)
Huley hit an RBI single with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth to help Trinity salvage a game in the series with a 2-1 win over Bates in game two.
Trinity starter Ryan Carr went seven innings, striking out four and allowing one run on eight hits while reliever David O'Brien stuck out four in two scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win (3-1).
For the Bobcats, junior right-hander Will Levangie (Frederick, Md.) pitched 6.1 innings, notching five strikeouts while giving up one run on four hits. Senior reliever Dean Bonneau (Amherst, Mass.) threw 2.1 innings in the loss (2-2) before Huley had the game-winning hit.
Hyde enjoyed a 2-for-4 effort at the plate with the Bobcats' lone RBI, and Jackson charted two hits for the second straight game.
Connor Sullivan and Scott Cullin each tallied two hits for the Bantams while Nick DiBenedetto registered the team's other RBI.
Trinity plated the game's first run in the bottom of the second as DiBenedetto was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in a run. Brian Wolfe led off the inning with a walk before Matt Moritime singled. Cullin followed with a single, and after a strikeout, DiBenedetto came to the plate and forced in the run.
Bates tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth as Hyde doubled home Tewksbury. Tewksbury led off the frame with a single and moved to third on a Czopek single before Hyde knocked him home.
In the bottom of the ninth, Bonneau struck out Cullin to start the inning. After Sullivan and DiBenedetto singled, Bonneau notched his second strikeout of the inning on Evan Abraham. Nicholas Pezzella followed with a single to load the bases before Huley drove home Sullivan for the winning run.
