WATERVILLE, Maine -- The Colby College Mules turned a close 2-1 contest into an easy win over the Bates baseball team on Friday, scoring six times in the sixth inning and nine times in the eighth inning to defeat the Bobcats 17-7 Friday afternoon in NESCAC action. 

Nicholas Thompson (3-0) stayed undefeated on the year for the home team, tossing seven innings of four-hit ball, allowing just two runs (one earned) and striking out six. 

The Bobcats (9-8, 0-4 NESCAC) got a strong outing from junior Luke Linnehan (Hingham, Mass.), who held the Mules (13-5, 2-2 NESCAC) to just two runs through his first five innings of work. But the sixth inning proved to be a problem for Bates, as Colby scored six times against three Bobcat pitchers. Linnehan (2-3) got charged for the first two runs that crossed the plate in the sixth, making his final line not as strong as it could have been. He threw 116 pitches in five and a third innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits. He walked three and struck out three.

The Bates bullpen struggled, giving up 13 runs in 2.2 innings pitched, although first-year John Tully (Framingham, Mass.) did throw a shutout inning out of the 'pen. 

Bates took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Senior captain Tyler Attal (Los Angeles) got things started with a double and fellow senior captain John Nowak (Pelham, N.Y.) doubled him home. But the Mules answered right away in the bottom of the second, plating a pair of unearned runs thanks to back-to-back Bates errors with two outs in the frame. 

The game remained 2-1 until the sixth inning. A single and two walks loaded the bases with one out. Another walk put Colby up 3-1 and a Ryan Grace two-RBI single added to the lead. The big blow came when Marcus Forrester smacked a two-out, three-run home run, turning a 5-1 game into an 8-1 lead for the home team.

Bates got one back in the top of the seventh. Nowak led off with a single and first-year Jack Margiloff (Rye, N.Y.) drew a walk. A Colby error trying to turn a double play on a ground ball off the bat of senior Drew Fallon (Mansfield, Mass.) allowed Margiloff to score after Nowak was forced out at third, cutting the deficit to 8-2.

The nine runs Colby plated in the eighth were more than enough to run away with the game. But the Bobcats did show some life in the top of the ninth, scoring five runs. 

With one away, Margiloff got hit by a pitch. Then with two away, Fallon and junior Jack Brennan (West Hartford, Conn.) drew back-to-back walks, loading the bases. Junior Christopher Cimino (Scarborough, Maine) got hit by a pitch, driving in Margiloff. Then Fallon pulled off a steal of home for the second run of the inning. Sophomore Brandon Biggane (Rensselaer, N.Y.) drew a walk and senior Henry Jamieson (St. Simons Island, Ga.) singled in a pair of runners. Junior Noah Jankowski (Methuen, Mass.) singled in Biggane for the last run of the contest.

The Bobcats are back in action Saturday at 12pm when they host the Mules at Leahey Field in a doubleheader.