WATERVILLE, Maine -- The Bates softball team took on Colby in a NESCAC doubleheader Saturday, taking game one 6-4 in eight innings before falling in game two by a count of 4-3 in 10 innings. 

Bates (1-5, 1-1 NESCAC) returns to action Sunday when the Bobcats host Tufts for a doubleheader that gets underway at noon.

Game One: Bates 6, Colby 4 (8 innings)

The Bobcats pounded out 16 hits on their way to the 6-4 win over the Mules in game one of Saturday's doubleheader.

With the score tied at four in the top of the eighth, sophomore Cassidy Musco (Walpole, Mass.) got the offense going with a single. Senior Caroline Bass (Newton, Mass.) followed with a double, plating Musco for the go-ahead run. One out later, junior Janell Sato (Honolulu, Hawaii) singled home Bass, putting Bates up 6-4.

Junior Danielle Polirer (Bellmore, N.Y.) worked around a two-out walk in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win for Bates. 

The Bobcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the contest with three runs in the second inning. With one away, sophomore Amanda Taylor (Fair Lawn, N.J.) singled. Senior starting pitcher Payton Buxton (Middlebury, Vt.) helped her own cause by doubling Taylor to third. Junior Aleah Pagan (Orinda, Calif.) singled home Taylor, putting Bates up 1-0. Then with two outs, Bass singled home Buxton and sophomore Lindsey Kim (Palo Alto, Calif.) singled in Pagan. 

Colby tied the game at three with two runs in the fourth and one more in the fifth. Then the Bobcats grabbed the edge again with a run in the fifth. With one out, first-year Rachel Liazos (Westborough, Mass.), senior Mary Collette (Watertown, Conn.), Taylor and Buxton smacked four singles in a row, with Buxton bringing home Liazos.

Buxton tossed six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. She walked a pair and struck out three. 

The Mules tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. They had a good chance to win the game, loading the bases with two outs. But Polirer (1-1) worked out of the jam thanks to a pop up and a strike out.

Every Bates player who had a plate appearance tallied a hit. Bass finished the game 3-5 with a run scored and two RBIs. Kim, Collette, Taylor and Buxton all recorded two hits each. 

Game Two: Colby 4, Bates 3 (10 innings)

The Bobcats once again jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game two but the Mules rallied to win 4-3 in 10 innings.

Bass walked to start the top of the first and Kim tripled her home. Bates loaded the bases with two outs and Buxton singled home a run. Then sophomore Kama Boswell (Bellevue, Wash.) drove in a run by drawing a walk. 

But Colby pitcher Payton Crowley (3-3) shut the Bobcats down for the rest of the contest, going the distance to earn the win. Crowley also contributed on offense, hitting a two-run home run in the fourth. The Mules tied the game in the fifth and won it in the 10th on a base hit from Jackie Hill that scored Lauren Ilano from third. 

Senior Jevan Sandhu (Plymouth, N.H.) started in the circle for Bates and tossed four innings. Buxton entered in relief in the fifth and finished the game for Bates. Sato went 2-5 to pace the Bates offense, which after recording 16 hits in game one tallied just six hits in game two. Nevertheless, the Bobcats still out-hit Colby, as the Mules finished with only five hits. Bates left 10 runners stranded in the game.