WHITTIER, Cal. - Senior Sam Berry launched a two-run homer in the seventh inning to bring the Bobcats within a run, but it wasn't enough as the Bates baseball team fell 4-3 to Whittier College Friday afternoon. Berry (South Hamilton, Mass.) was 2-4 with three RBI's, as Bates out-hit Whittier 8-7 in their fourth game of the young season.

Bates trailed 3-0 heading into the seventh, when sophomore Brendan Fox (West Hartford, Conn.) walked and Berry followed with a two run shot to put his team on the board. Sophomore Ryan McCarthy (Plaistow, N.H.) and senior Rockwell Jackson (Fort Worth, Texas) followed with back to back singles, but junior Samuel Warren (Norfolk, Va.) hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

The Bobcats tied the game in the top of the eighth as Berry singled to right, chasing home Mekae Hyde (Lewiston, Maine), who had walked to open the inning. The Whittier Poets responded in their half of the eighth, however, when Whittier's Stephen Zavala walked, stole score, advanced to third on a sacrifice fly to center by Ben Carami and stole home for the go ahead and eventual winning run.

Senior righty Will Levangie (Frederick, Md.)  threw five innings for Bates, scattering three runs, two of them earned, on five hits while striking out four, facing two over the minimum. Lefty Connor Russell (Cumberland, Maine) took the loss, tossing two and two-thirds innings and giving up one run, while junior Connor Colombo (Mendon, Mass.) retired the final out in the eighth frame.

Designated hitter Rockwell Jackson and left fielder Ryan McCarthy each had multi-hit games for the Bobcats with two hits each.

Bates resumes play on Saturday with a double-header against Whittier before returning to the East Coast.