LEWISTON, Maine - Nate Pajka hit a grand slam and Connor Colombo pitched out of a bases-loaded jam to help the Bates baseball team defeat Trinity College, 6-4 in the first game of a three-game NESCAC East series Friday afternoon at Leahey Field.

With the win, Bates (13-17, 5-5 NESCAC) remains in the hunt for the second NESCAC East playoff spot, needing to sweep Saturday's twin bill with Trinity to advance. If the Bantams (14-17, 5-7 NESCAC) win both games, Trinity will get the playoff nod, and if the two teams split Saturday's games, Bowdoin College will join NESCAC East winner Tufts in post-season play.

Both pitchers tossed at least seven innings for their respective teams, as Jed Robinson worked seven and two thirds of an inning, giving up six runs, five of them earned, on seven hits while striking out seven. Colombo (Mendon, Mass.) pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out six to move to 4-0 on the season.

Bates put up a four-spot in the home half of the first. Samuel Warren (Norfolk, Va.) drew a one out walk, Rockwell Jackson (Fort Worth, Tex) followed with a single, and with two outs, Mekae Hyde (Lewiston, Maine) was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Pajka (Douglas, Mass), who drilled the offer from Robinson onto the roof of the new batting cage beyond right field to give the Bobcats a 4-0 lead.

Robinson settled down after that, throwing up zeros for the Bantams in the second and third innings, striking out the side in the second. Bates added a single tally in the fourth on an RBI single from Alex Parker (Lewiston, Maine) to make it 5-0, Bates.

In the top of the fifth, the Bantams broke up Colombo's shutout, on an RBI fielder's choice from Jonathan Frank. Trinity mounted a rally in the top of the sixth, loading the bases on a single, walk and an error. Matthew Toth was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 5-2, but Colombo responded by striking out the next two batters he faced and got Connor Sullivan to pop out in foul territory to leave the bases loaded. The Bantams left 11 runners on base for the game.

Trinity added a single tally in the seventh off of Colombo on a Bryan Wolfe RBI single to center field. Sam Maliska (Palo Alto, Calif.) came in to pitch for the Bobcats in the eighth and surrendered one run on a Connor Sullivan single down the third base line to close the score to 5-4 Bates.

The Bobcats added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, helped by a pair of Trinity errors. The Batams brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the ninth with nobody out, but Maliska went on to get two fly balls and a ground out to short to save the game for the Bobcats.

Pajka led the Bobcats with four RBIs while Sam Berry (South Hamilton, Mass.) and Ryan McCarthy (Plaistow, N.H.) each had two hits for Bates. Wolfe and Sullivan were each 2-4 with an RBI for Trinity.

Saturday's doubleheader with the Bantams begins at noon at Leahey Field.