DAVENPORT, Fla. -- The Bates baseball team scored four runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth to pull away from Northern Vermont University-Lyndon in a 14-2 win for the Bobcats to open the 2022 season Friday morning at the RussMatt Invitational. 

The game was called after eight innings due to a tournament rule that dictates a 10-run mercy rule if another game is scheduled to start immediately following the current game on the same field. 

Senior Grant Iuliano (Waltham, Mass.) tossed five innings and allowed just two runs, both unearned, on five hits to pick up the victory. Iuliano (1-0) walked one and struck out three. Fellow senior Jared Pantalony (Brooklyn, N.Y.) worked two shutout innings and first-year Ian McAslan (Baltimore, Md.) tossed a scoreless frame as well out of the bullpen. 

On offense, the Bobcats (1-0) pounded out 17 hits against the Hornets (0-2) in the victory. Every starter either got a hit or scored a run and six Bates players recorded multi-hit games.

Junior Drew Fallon (Mansfield, Mass.) went 3-4 with a run scored, a double, and four RBIs. Senior Bryan Gotti (Westwood, Mass.) finished 3-5 with a run scored, a double, and two RBIs and junior John Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.) tallied three hits in four at bats with three runs scored, an RBI and a walk. 

Bates took the lead for good against Hornet starter Carlos Rodriguez (0-1) in the top of the third. With two outs and nobody on, junior Henry Jamieson (St. Simons, Ga.) singled to center field. Senior Antonio Jareno (Marietta, Ga.) followed with a single through the right side. Then Gotti smacked a ground-rule double to left, scoring Jamieson and putting the Bobcats up 1-0.

Already up 1-0, the Bobcats exploded for five runs in the fourth. Nowak singled to start the frame and advanced 180 feet on back-to-back passed balls. Fallon singled home Nowak and senior captain Kevin Lucey (Topsfield, Mass.) doubled home Fallon to make the score 3-0. Lucey stole third and junior Tyler Attal (Los Angeles) drew a walk to chase Rodriguez from the game.

Attal stole second and sophomore Noah Jankowski (Methuen, Mass.) drew a walk to load the bases. A Jamieson sacrifice fly plated Lucey and the Bobcats got two more runs on an error and a Gotti RBI grounder respectively.

The Hornets scored a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the Bates lead to 6-2.

But Bates ran away with the game in the seventh and eighth innings. 

Gotti singled to lead off the top of the seventh and sophomore Jack Brennan (West Hartford, Conn.) doubled down the left field line, moving Gotti to third. Nowak walked to load the bases and a Fallon sacrifice fly made the score 7-2. 

With two away, Attal smacked a three-run home run, blowing the game open at 10-2.

With the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, Nowak singled in two runs and Fallon doubled in two more. A Lucey sacrifice fly rounded out the scoring for Bates.

The Bobcats are back in action Saturday morning at the RussMatt Invitational when they take on Grove City College at 10:30am.