LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates baseball team dropped a pair of games to the Tufts Jumbos Saturday afternoon. In their first two home and NESCAC games of the season, the Bobcats lost 3-2 in eight innings in game one and 9-0 in game two.
The walk totals were the difference in both games. Tufts drew a combined 13 walks while Bates only tallied a total of three walks over the course of the afternoon.
Game One: Tufts 3, Bates 2 (8 innings)
Bates took the Jumbos to extra innings in game one before falling 3-2 in the eighth when an unearned crossed the plate on a Dan Kelly RBI single.
Senior captain Connor Colombo (Mendon, Mass.) cruised through the first four innings on the mound. He retired the side in order in the first, allowed a one-out single in the second but worked around it without any trouble and got a nice 4-6-3 double play to end the third. The right-hander sent Tufts down in order again in the fourth.
Bates took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. With one out junior Brendan Fox (West Hartford, Conn.) drew a walk. Senior Samuel Warren (Norfolk, Va.) walked as well to put runners at first and second. A wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet and senior captain Conor Reenstierna (Lincoln, Mass.) singled home both runs to put Bates up 2-0.
But Tufts tied things up in the fifth. With one away Christian Zazzali drew a walk. Colombo struck out Harry Brown looking but struggled with his control the rest of the inning. He walked the next two batters to load the bases. Oscar Kutch got hit by a pitch to cut the Bates lead to 2-1. Then Matt Moser drew a bases loaded walk, tying the game at two. Colombo was able to get out of the inning by striking out Tommy O'Hara.
Colombo picked up a no-decision, going five innings, allowing two runs on two hits, walking five and striking out three.
Senior Rob DiFranco (Melrose, Mass.) entered the game for Colombo and shut down the Jumbos in the sixth and seventh innings.
Bates had a golden opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the seventh.
Pinch hitter Evan Czopek '16 (Portland, Ore.) reached on an error and reached second base safely on the play by sliding around the tag on a bang-bang play. Jamie Kennedy '19 (Boston, Mass.) pinch ran and advanced to third on a failed pick-off attempt that sailed into center.
With the winning run at third and nobody out, Bates could not push Kennedy across the plate. Tufts starter Speros Varinos (3-1) got out of the jam with a strike out, a ground-out and another strike out.
The Jumbos made Bates pay in the top of the eighth. O'Hara singled to start the frame. The Jumbos bunted O'Hara to second and a passed ball moved him to third. A Dan Kelly RBI single through the drawn in infield put Tufts up 3-2.
Warren led off the bottom of the eighth with a single but a fielder's choice and a double play ended the game.
John Dinucci '17 (West Hartford, Conn.) and Asher MacDonald '18 (Hillsborough, N.C.) did not factor in the scoring but they both recorded two hits in the NESCAC home opener for Bates. One of Dinucci's two hits was a double. The Bobcats tallied seven hits while Tufts only recorded five hits in the contest.
Game Two: Tufts 9, Bates 0 (7 innings)
The Bobcats out-hit the Jumbos in game two 7-6 but fell by a score of 9-0. Tufts (9-3, 2-0 NESCAC) scored one run in the first, five runs in the second and three more runs in the third inning.
Sophomore Connor Speed (San Diego, Calif.) got the start for Bates. In the top of the first Cody McCallum got hit by a pitch to start the game. Oscar Kutch drew a walk and one out later O'Hara singled home McCallum to put the Jumbos up 1-0.
The top of the second inning started like the first inning, with a hit-by-pitch. Harry Brown doubled, putting runners at second and third with nobody out. One out later McCallum singled home two runs. Tufts loaded the bases and a RBI grounder and a Bates error allowed the final three runs of the inning to score.
Down 6-0, Bates couldn't get a lot going on offense against Tufts starter Andrew David (2-0). He allowed at least one runner every inning except the sixth but kept Bates at arm's length.
Back-to-back walks to start the top of the third prompted the Bobcats to bring in sophomore Connor Russell (Cumberland, Maine). Although he struggled at first, walking a pair of batters and allowing the two inherited runners to score plus one more, he settled down after that.
Russell retired 10 in a row to end the game. He tossed four and two thirds innings, allowing only one run on two hits, walking two and striking out seven.
Junior captain Ryan McCarthy (Plaistow, N.H.) and MacDonald both recorded multi-hit games in game two. Sophomore Jake Shapiro (Sandy, Utah) went 1-2 and drew Bates' only walk of the game.
The Bobcats host Tufts in the series finale Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Junior Anthony Telesca (Holtsville, N.Y.) takes the hill for Bates.
