LEWISTON, Maine -- For the second straight game, the Bates baseball team jumped out to a 5-0 lead over rival Bowdoin, but for the second straight game, the Bobcats couldn't hold onto it in an 11-6 loss to the Polar Bears Thursday afternoon at Leahey Field.

The Polar Bears (16-3, 5-4 NESCAC) broke a 6-6 tie with five runs in the eighth inning to hand the Bobcats (11-15, 2-7 NESCAC) their sixth straight loss.

Bates starting pitcher sophomore Diego Sarabia (Atlanta, Ga.) worked out of bases loaded jams in back-to-back innings to start the game. Meanwhile, the Bobcats struck early against Bowdoin starter Jason Bogdanos.

Senior captain Jack Brennan (West Hartford, Conn.) got the offense going in the bottom of the first with a lead-off single. First-year Keagan Ryan (Salem, N.H.) reached on an error and senior captain Chris Cimino (Scarborough, Maine) bunted the runners over. A wild pitch scored Brennan and first-year Henry Prince (McLean, Va.) singled in Ryan for a 2-0 Bates lead. With two outs, junior Brandon Biggane (Rensselaer, N.Y.) drew a walk and senior Noah Jankowski (Methuen, Mass.) singled in Prince to make the score 3-0.

The Bobcats plated two more runs in the second inning. Sophomore Liam Yardley (Keene, N.H.) walked to start the frame and Brennan singled him to third. Brennan stole second and one out later Cimino drove in Yardley with a sacrifice fly to left. Then Prince smacked his second RBI single in as many innings, extending the lead to 5-0. 

But the Polar Bears responded right away. Lukas Tsai hit a two-run home run and Reuben Siegel launched a solo shot in the third, cutting the Bates edge to 5-3.

Sarabia shut the Polar Bears down in the fourth and the fifth inning. He left the game with the lead after walking Cal Thompson to begin the sixth inning. But the Bates bullpen couldn't hold the lead as Kevin Murray hit a three-run home run to give Bowdoin a 6-5 lead.

The Bobcats evened the score in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore Gibby Sullivan (Yarmouth, Maine) singled to lead off the frame. With one out, Brennan reached on a fielding error, and a throwing error on the same play moved Sullivan to third. Another Bowdoin error, this one on a failed pick-off attempt at first, allowed Sullivan to score, tying the game at six.

Junior Micah Sheats (Niwot, Colo.) worked a scoreless seventh inning, but ran into trouble in the eighth. With one out, a single, a hit-by-pitch, and another single loaded the bases. Then CJ Brito-Trinidad found a hole on the right side and singled in two runs, giving Bowdoin the lead for good. Siegel singled in another run to chase Sheats (0-1) from the game. Then the Polar Bears added two more runs on an RBI groundout and a balk.

Bogdanos (2-3) picked up the win, going seven innings and allowing six runs, three earned, on eight hits. He struck out eight batters.

Brennan, Prince, and Jankowski picked up two hits apiece for Bates. Murray, Tsai, and Siegel all went 3-5 for Bowdoin. 

The Bobcats will look to bounce back when they host Colby Friday at 3 pm.