LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates baseball team and the visiting University of Southern Maine Huskies combined for seven home runs on Wednesday, as the Bobcats fell to USM by a score of 15-9 at Leahey Field.

The final game of the season for the Bobcats (12-20) proved to be quite the slugfest as the Huskies (18-17) tallied four runs in the first inning and never trailed despite Bates hitting a season-high three home runs.

First-year David Swift (Yarmouth, Maine) hit a pair of dingers, becoming the first Bobcat to smack more than one long ball in a game since Ryan McCarthy '17 hit two, also against USM, in 2016.

Bates starting pitcher junior John Tully (Framingham, Mass.) suffered some terrible luck in the top of the first. With two outs and runners at second and third, back-to-back Bates errors allowed a total of three runs to score, putting the Huskies up 3-0. Then Joe Bova double in a run and the score stood 4-0 in favor of the visitors.

The Bobcats answered right away in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Keagan Ryan (Salem, N.H.) bunted his way aboard to lead off the frame and one out later Swift cranked his first home run of the game, a blast out to left that cut the deficit to 4-2.

But Southern Maine's offense was relentless, as Chris Quigley led off the top of the second with a solo home run and the Huskies loaded the bases with one away on a pair of singles and a walk. Drew Scialdone hit a ball off Tully (4-3) that deflected to first-year John Federico (Durham, N.H.) at third base. He was able to throw Scialdone out at first for the second out of the inning and the score was 6-2 in favor of the visitors as a run scored on the play.

The Bobcats brought in senior Ian McAslan (Baltimore, Md.) to pitch and he struck out the next batter to prevent further damage.

Bates again pulled within two runs in the bottom of the second. With two outs, junior Liam Yardley (Keene, N.H.) found a gap and doubled to right center. Then senior captain Brennan Kelley (Charlotte, N.C.) doubled in Yardley and Ryan doubled home Kelley, making the score 6-4.

That was as close as Bates would get the rest of the game, as the Huskies tallied a run in the third inning and five more in the fourth to pull away. The score stood 15-5 through seven innings and although the Bobcats tallied the final four runs of the contest, it proved to be too little, too late.

The two teams combined for 28 hits, as USM finished with 15 and Bates with 13. Swift and Kelley tallied three hits apiece to pace the Bobcats, while Bova finished 3-4 with two home runs and four RBIs for the visitors. 

Bates graduates nine seniors: five pitchers and four position players. The Bobcats improved on their NESCAC win total for the second straight season, narrowly missing the conference tournament.