WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Capital University totaled 14 hits, took advantage of six errors and scored multiple runs in four innings, en route to a 12-4 victory over the Bates baseball team Saturday at Chain of Lakes Stadium.
Bates finishes its season-opening trip with a 1-4 record, while the Crusaders were victorious in their season opener.
Capital scored two unearned runs in the first inning off of Bates senior righthander Nolan Collins (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.), and added a third unearned run in the third.
Bates countered with a pair of runs in the fifth despite two outs to start the inning. First-year Drew Fallon (Mansfield, Mass.) singled, senior Will Sylvia (Newton, Mass.) walked, and sophomore Antonio Jareno (Marietta, Ga.) reached safely on a fielder's choice to load the bases. Junior Christian Beal (Flossmoor, Ill.) then singled to drive Fallon and Sylvia home to close the gap to 3-2.
But Capital regained its three-run advantage in the top of the sixth, with a pair of RBI doubles by Lyons and Grisez off of Bates sophomore lefthander Braden Karess (Boxborough, Mass.).
The Crusaders blew the game open with four runs on a walk and four singles in the seventh for a 9-2 lead.
Bates scored two runs in the eighth. Beal doubled to lead off and scored on first-year Henry Jamieson's (St. Simons Island, Ga.) single. Jamieson reached second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out single by junior Colin Coyne (Falmouth, Maine).
Capital tacked on three more runs to its lead in the ninth off of senior righthander Will Slayne (Dedham, Mass.) -- all four of Bates' pitchers, including senior righthander Miles Michaud (Madison, Conn.), were charged with three runs.
Collins (1-1) was assessed the loss while Tucker Craft earned the victory, throwing the first five innings and giving up two runs for the Crusaders.
Bates next plays on Saturday, March 7, in a doubleheader against Nichols College at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Mass., beginning at noon.
