BRUNSWICK, Maine -- The Bates baseball team let a 5-0 lead get away from them in a 12-7 loss to Bowdoin Wednesday night in NESCAC action.

The game was a resumption of the suspended game from April 13, as Bates held a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning, when rain forced the teams to reschedule the rest of the contest. The game was supposed to resume at Leahey Field but got moved to Bowdoin's Pickard Diamond due to rain in the forecast.

Already up 3-0, the Bobcats (11-4, 2-6 NESCAC) added to their lead right away on Wednesday. Junior Ben Genser (Newton, Mass.), who homered at Leahey Field in the first part of the game on April 13, picked up where he left off with an RBI single in the bottom of the third, making the score 4-0. Then a passed ball plated another run and Bates led 5-0.

Senior starting pitcher Sam Hough (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.) retired the first 10 batters of the game but ran into trouble in the middle innings. Bowdoin (15-13, 4-4 NESCAC) got on the board in the fourth inning thanks to a hit-by-pitch, a groundout that moved the runner to second, and a Chris Dirks RBI single. 

Then Bowdoin got three back in the top of the fifth. With the bases loaded and one out, Reuben Siegel hit a slow bouncer back to Hough. He tried to fire a throw home but it was wide of the catcher and went to the backstop, allowing two runs to score and cutting the Bates lead to 5-3. Then with two outs, Kevin Murray singled home another run, making the score 5-4. The Bobcats were able to throw out Siegel at third on the play, ending the inning.

Bates pushed a run across in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, senior Noah Jankowski (Methuen, Mass.) drew a walk. Then Genser blooped a double down the right field line on a 3-2 pitch, scoring Jankowski from first and extending the Bates lead to 6-4.

Things unraveled in the final two innings for Bates. The top of the sixth inning started with Hough striking out Dirks. But the ball bounced and sophomore Liam Yardley (Keene, N.H.) attempted to tag the runner. The umpires conferenced and determined he did not get the tag on Dirks and Bowdoin had the lead-off batter aboard via a strikeout. Lukas Tsai followed with a double, knocking Hough out of the game.

A sacrifice fly, a walk, a triple, and an RBI groundout followed. When the dust cleared, Bowdoin led 8-6.

Another Bates error led to four more unearned runs for Bowdoin in the seventh, as the Polar Bears ran away with the win.

Genser paced the Bates offense, going 3-4 with a run scored, a double, a home run, and five RBIs. Jankowski went 3-3 with a double, two runs scored, and a walk. Murray and Dirks had two hits apiece for Bowdoin.

Seven of the 12 runs surrendered by Bates pitching were unearned.

The Bobcats look to bounce back Thursday when they host the Polar Bears at Leahey Field at 3 pm.