MEDFORD, Mass. -- Junior Gibby Sullivan smacked a pair of home runs and the Bates baseball team split a NESCAC doubleheader with Tufts on Friday, taking game one 6-3 and falling 3-1 in game two.

The Bobcats (2-10, 1-1 NESCAC) hope to take the three-game series on Saturday when they face the Jumbos (7-10, 1-1 NESCAC) in the rubber match at noon.

Game One: Bates 6, Tufts 3

The Bates baseball team scored five runs in the second inning and held on for a 6-3 victory over Tufts in game one of Friday's twin bill.

Junior John Tully (Framingham, Mass.) turned in his best performance of the season, tossing six plus innings of three-run ball, scattering six hits and striking out six to earn the win.

With the game scoreless, senior captain Brandon Biggane (Rensselaer, N.Y.) got the Bates offense going in the top of the second with a single up the middle. Junior Liam Yardley (Keene, N.H.) bunted him to second and senior Ben Genser (Newton, Mass.) singled home Biggane to put Bates up 1-0. First-year Nolan Bibbo (Wellesley, Mass.) followed with a single of his own, putting runners at first and second. 

Then the Bobcats caught a break when junior Joe Yoxall (Dallas, Texas) hit a grounder to short. The Jumbos got Biggo at second, but the relay to first got away and Genser scored to give Bates a 2-0 lead while Yoxall advanced to second. Shaky Tufts defense cost them again when sophomore Keagan Ryan (Salem, N.H.) hit a grounder to third and the throw to first got away for the second straight play, scoring Yoxall and moving Ryan to second. 

Sullivan (Yarmouth, Maine) made it hurt by crushing a two-run home run, extending the lead to 5-0 in favor of the Bobcats.

Tufts rallied in the bottom of the second. Owen McKiernan singled down the right field line and Connor Brala drew a walk. Tully (1-1) struck out Ozzie Fleischer but Jesse McCullough found a hole on the right side and singled in McKiernan. Brala advanced to third on the play and scored on a Ben Leonard sacrifice fly. With two away, Yardley threw out McCullough trying to steal, ending the inning.

With the lead down to 5-2, the Bates offense netted an insurance tally in the top of the third thanks to Yardley. With one out, the junior catcher hit his first collegiate home run, a blast out to left.

Tully took it from there, shutting down the Tufts offense. The Jumbos managed an unearned run in the sixth, but that was it. First-year Charlie Cariello (Bedford, N.H.) locked down his first collegiate save with a scoreless seventh, striking out one.

The Bobcats tallied eight hits to six for Tufts. Sullivan led the way, going 2-4 with a two-run home run. Cooper Smith and McCullough tallied two hits apiece for Tufts.

Tufts didn't record any extra-base hits in the contest. Jacob Lapp (0-2) pitched a complete game for the Jumbos, taking the loss while giving up six runs (two earned) and striking out six.

Game Two: Tufts 3, Bates 1

Tufts ace Silas Reed tossed a complete game, throwing 131 pitches and striking out 13 to lead Tufts to a 3-1 win over the Bates baseball team in game two of Friday's doubleheader.

The Bobcats tallied just four hits in the contest, but one of them was another Sullivan home run. In the top of the first, the junior shortstop hit his team-leading fourth long ball of the season, giving Bates the early 1-0 lead.

Bates starting pitcher junior Diego Sarabia (Mableton, Ga.) shut down the Jumbos for the first two innings, but Tufts tied things up in the bottom of the third. With one out, McCullough doubled to right-center and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Leonard grounded out to Sarabia, driving in McCullough to tie the game at one.

Tufts took advantage of a lead-off walk and an error to score an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth. James Henshon drew the base-on-balls and one out later he stole second. A throwing error on the play moved Henshon to third, and he came in to score on a Nick Banner infield single.

Another Banner RBI single in the sixth added to the Tufts lead. The Bates offense couldn't get anything going against Reed (3-0), who retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced. Yoxall had success at the top of the lineup, going 2-4 at the plate. Sullivan homered and drew the lone walk of the game for Bates. Ryan added a base hit, but the No. 4 through 9 batters in the lineup went hitless.

Sarabia (0-3) was the hard-luck losing pitcher, going five and two thirds innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out four. First-year Charlie Bushley (Cohasset, Mass) was effective out of the bullpen, tossing two and a third innings of shutout ball.