LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates baseball team competed in a pair of very close games Saturday in a doubleheader against NESCAC foe Trinity, dropping game one 4-2 and falling victim to a ninth-inning rally in a 9-7 defeat in game two. 

The Bobcats (12-12, 1-8 NESCAC) are back in action next Saturday when they host Skidmore for a doubleheader starting at 12pm.

Game One: Trinity 4, Bates 2

The Bantams scored twice in the sixth and once in the seventh to edge the Bobcats by a count of 4-2 in game one of Saturday's doubleheader.

The Bobcats got on the board first in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore Brandon Biggane (Rensselaer, N.Y.) scored on a wild pitch. Trinity answered with a run in the fifth on an RBI single from James Stefanowicz.

Bates grabbed the lead again in the bottom of the fifth. Senior Henry Jamieson (St. Simons Island, Ga.) bunted his away aboard and advanced to second on a Trinity throwing error. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out RBI single from senior captain John Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.), putting Bates up 2-1.

The Bantams tied the game at two in the top of the sixth on a solo home run to right-center off the bat of Sean Meth. Then later in the inning, Colin Mann singled in Patrick Dillon for the go-ahead run.

Junior Sam Hough (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) started game one for Bates and pitched well, giving up just three runs in six innings pitched. He walked one and struck out five. Hough (1-2) took the hard-luck loss as the Bobcats left 13 runners on base in the game.

Down 4-2 after the Bantams plated an unearned run in the seventh, the Bobcats nearly pulled off a comeback in the bottom half of the frame. With one out, Biggane reached on an infield single and Nowak doubled, putting runners at second and third. A hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, but a fielder's choice where the runner got cut down at home and a strikeout ended the game. 

Each team tallied nine hits in the contest. Junior Jack Brennan (West Hartford, Conn.) went 2-2 with a double and two walks. Nowak also tallied a pair of hits, going 2-4 with a double and an RBI.
 
Game Two: Trinity 9, Bates 7

Bates rallied from a 6-0 deficit to take a one-run lead, only to see the Bantams score three in the ninth to defeat the Bobcats 9-7 in game two of Saturday's doubleheader.

With the score 6-0 in favor of the Bantams, the Bobcats scored five times in the bottom of the sixth. First-year Gibby Sullivan (Yarmouth, Maine) got the offense going with a single through the right side. Senior Drew Fallon (Mansfield, Mass.) followed with a single of his own, and Brennan made it three straight singles, loading the bases.

Junior Christopher Cimino (Scarborough, Maine) drew a walk to plate the first run of the game for Bates. Then senior captain Tyler Attal (Los Angeles) drove in Fallon with a sacrifice fly. Jamieson followed with a two-RBI double and he advanced to third on a wild pitch. A Biggane sacrifice fly plated Jamieson and cut the deficit to 6-5.

Attal tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI triple and Jamieson singled him in to put up 7-6.

But the Bobcats could not hold on, as Trinity took advantage of a hit-by-pitch and a walk to start the top of the ninth. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners up, and a hard hit ball to third off the bat of Yoshi Omi-Jarrett scored the tying run.

With two away, Tyler Bernstein and Jack Mathews delivered back-to-back singles to give Trinity a 9-7 edge. Brennan drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the ninth but a line out ended the game.

Bates could not take advantage of a tremendous outing from sophomore Ian McAslan (Baltimore, Md.), who pitched six shutout innings out of the bullpen after starting pitcher junior Corbin McAlpine (Boxborough, Mass.) had a tough-luck second inning where we gave up six unearned runs. McAslan struck out a pair of batters and allowed just four hits and was in line for the win before the Bantams rallied for three runs against two Bates relievers in the ninth.

Jamieson led the offense in game two, going 3-4 with a run scored and three RBI. Meth paced the Bantams, going 3-6 with a run scored and an RBI.