WHITTIER, Calif. - The Bates baseball team exacted revenge for Friday night's one run loss at Whittier, defeating the Poets in both ends of a doubleheader Saturday to cap a 4-2 West Coast trip. The Bobcats upended Whittier 12-3 in game one and held off a late rally in game two for a 7-5 victory.

Game One Recap - Bates 12, Whittier 3

Evan Czopek (Portland, Ore.) and Conor Reenstierna (Lincoln, Mass.) banged out four hits each, as six different players recorded multi-hit games in a 12-3 victory over Whittier. Left fielder John Dinucci (West Hartford, Conn.) knocked in a team-leading three RBI's on the afternoon, while first-year Connor Speed (San Diego, Calif.) went five innings to pick up the win. Speed allowed three runs on three hits while striking out four. Connor Colombo (Mendon, Mass.), Aidan Sullivan (Yarmouth, Maine) and Andrew Freeman (Newton, Mass.) kept the Poets hitless, combining on four shutout innings to finish the game.

The Bobcats took the early lead again in this game, scoring in the first inning in all but two games on the week. Czopek and Brendan Fox (West Hartford, Conn.) created a little two-out lightning, when Czopek singled home Rockwell Jackson (Fort Worth, Texas), who reached on an error. Fox followed with a double down the left field line to chase home Mekae Hyde (Lewiston, Maine), who reached on a fielder's choice, giving Bates the 2-0 lead.

Bates added a single run in the second, before erupting for three runs in the top of the fifth. Dinnuci singled home Czopek, who began the inning with a single. Sam Berry (South Hamilton, Mass.) and Fox both scored when the Whittier shortstop mishandled a grounder off the bat of Jackson.

Game Two Recap - Bates 7, Whittier 5

The Bobcats jumped out to an early lead and survived a frantic three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth to secure the 7-5 win over Whittier in game two. Nate Pajka (Douglas, Mass.) demonstrated his power to both sides of the field, going 3-4 with a pair of home runs and two RBI's, while teammate Evan Czopek was 3-5 with three RBI's and a run scored. The Bobcats staked starter Rob DiFranco (Melrose, Mass.) to the early lead, and kept adding on to preserve the win.

Czopek picked up two of his game-high three RBI's in the first, scoring Rockwell Jackson, who singled to center to start the frame, and Pajka, who was hit by a pitch and scored from first base. Copeck advanced to third on a wild-pitch, later scoring on a Ryan McCarthy (Plaistow, N.H.) infield single.

Parka added to the lead in the second when he deposited a Hemington pitch over the right field fence to put the Bobcats up 4-0. The Poets responded in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs, but DiFranco shut them down for the next three innings, leaving the game with a 5-2 advantage. DiFranco allowed two runs, one of them earned, on six hits through five innings, striking out three and walking no one. The Bobcat pitching staff allowed only one base on balls for the game.

Mark Cunningham (Canton, Mass.) followed DiFranco on the mount, facing the minimum over three shutout innings, allowing 0 runs and 0 hits while striking out one.

Bates added single runs in the eighth and ninth inning; senior Mekae Hyde brought home Sam Berry on a sacrifice fly to left-field in the eighth, and Patjka padded the lead in the ninth when he went yard to left-center field, putting the Bobcats up 7-2 headed into the bottom of the ninth.

Robert Jones (South Berwick, Maine) started the ninth for the Bobcats, allowing three runs, two earned, in two-thirds of an inning. Matt Doyle (Northborough, Mass.) faced one batter, before Samuel Warren (Norfolk, Va.) came in to pick up the final out and record the save.

Czopek ended the week with a team-leading five doubles and 10 RBI's, batting a team-high .522 in six games. Pajka led the Bobcats with four homers and a 1.000 slugging percentage on the week, hitting .423. The team scored 52 runs in six games and hit .332 with a .506 slugging percentage.

On the mound, 16 different pitchers took the ball for head coach Mike Leonard's team, with Rob DiFranco picking up two wins in three starts, tossing a team-high seven innings with a 1.29 ERA and six K's.