LEWISTON, Maine -- Colby College won the first of a three-game NESCAC East Division series with the Bates College baseball team on Friday, 11-6 at Leahey Field, benefiting from 13 hits and Will Cohen's 5 2/3-inning relief appearance.

Colby (11-18, 4-6 NESCAC East) took advantage of Bates senior starting pitcher Connor Colombo's (Mendon, Mass.) struggles with control to score one in the first, two in the second and three in the fourth. Colombo allowed three hits in his three innings, but also issued four walks and hit four batters.

The game was tied 3-3 after three innings, but the Mules chased Colombo in the fourth as Chris Sonberg hit a leadoff single, followed by walks issued to Tyler Starks and Tommy Forese. Zach Ellenthal was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Colombo was removed in favor of first-year Justin Foley (Lynnfield, Mass.). Sacrifice flies by Soren Hanson (four RBIs) and Matt Garcia (two RBIs) gave the Mules a 6-3 lead.

Bates (10-18), 2-7 NESCAC East) got one run back in the bottom of the fourth, but Colby added two runs in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth to assume an 11-4 advantage.

Bates rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth before Cohen closed the door by inducing senior Conor Reenstierna (Lincoln, Mass.) into a game-ending groundout.

Colby got on the board in the first without a hit. Forese led off the game by reaching on an error, and Colombo then hit Ellenthal. After a wild pitch, Hanson walked to load the bases, and Forese scored on Garcia's sacrifice fly.

The Mules added two in the second, with Andrew Della Volpe leading off by getting hit and Sonberg following with a single. After a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Starks, Forese was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The Bobcats got the second out of the inning on a fielder's choice with Della Volpe getting thrown out at home, but Hanson then delivered a two-run single through the left side.

Bates reached Colby starting pitcher Brooks Parker for three runs in the third. Junior John Dinucci (West Hartford, Conn.) walked and junior Ryan McCarthy (Plaistow, N.H.) followed with a single. Senior Berto Diaz (Carson, Calif.) scored Dinucci with a single up the middle, and both he and McCarthy then scored on a two-run double by junior Brendan Fox (West Hartford, Conn.).

Leading 6-4 after five innings, the Mules scored two runs on four hits, including bunt singles by both Ellenthal and Garcia, in the sixth off of senior Mark Cunningham (Canton, Mass.). Cunningham prevented further damage with an inning-ending double play ball. But Colby added two more off of Cunningham in the seventh, with singles by Della Volpe and Starks and an RBI double by Ellenthal.