ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. -- The Bates baseball team scored a combined 31 runs in a doubleheader sweep of Bard on Saturday, propelling the Bobcats to their best start to a season since 2013. 

Bates (4-1) is scheduled to host Brandeis on Sunday, March 8th at noon on Leahey Field.

Game One Recap: Bates 14, Bard 7 (7 innings)

The Bates baseball team scored three runs in the first inning and never looked back in a 14-7 win over Bard in game one of Saturday's twin bill.

Senior John Tully (Framingham, Mass.) picked up his second win in as many starts, tossing six innings of two-run ball for the Bobcats.

With two outs and nobody on in the top of the first, senior Gibby Sullivan (Yarmouth, Maine) got things started against Bard starter Charlie Lehr (0-1) with a single up the middle. Sophomore David Swift (Yarmouth, Maine) reached on an error and first-year Brady Thompson (Newark, Del.) drew a walk. 

A wild pitch plated Sullivan and sophomore Max Dushney (Ashland, Mass.) delivered a two-RBI single to make it 3-0 in favor of the Bobcats.

The Bobcats struck again in the second inning with two outs. Junior captain Keagan Ryan (Salem, N.H.) drew a walk and stole second. Senior Jack Margiloff (Rye, N.Y.) singled home Ryan and the score stood 4-0 in favor of Bates.

Bates broke the game open with eight runs in the fifth inning. With one out, Margiloff drew a walk. He stole second and stole third before Sullivan tripled him home. Swift followed with a two-run blast to left, extending the lead to 7-0. Then with two outs, Dushney got hit by a pitch and sophomore Tyler Tucker (Hamilton, N.J.) singled him to third. Dushney scored on a wild pitch and sophomore John Federico (Durham, N.H.) singled in Tucker. Senior Joe Yoxall (Dallas, Texas) singled as well and Ryan cleared the bases with a three-run home run to left, making the score 12-0.

Junior Luke Yoon (Honolulu, Hawaii) delivered an RBI double in the sixth and junior Henry Prince (McLean, Va.) smacked a solo home run in the seventh to cap off the scoring for Bates.

Bard managed to get some late offense going, scoring twice in the sixth and five times in the seventh, but it was too little too late for the hosts.

Ryan, Margiloff, and Sullivan tallied two hits apiece at the top of the lineup as the Bobcats out-hit the Raptors 13-10. Ryan drove in three runs and scored two runs.

Game Two Recap: Bates 17, Bard 3

The Bobcats got off to a hot start for a second straight contest, once again scoring three runs in the first inning on their way to a 17-3 win over Bard to complete the doubleheader sweep. 

Sullivan had a monster game, going 2-4 with a home run, a double, four runs scored, six RBIs, and four walks. Senior Diego Sarabia (Mableton, Ga.) earned his first win of the season, tossing five innings of two-run ball and striking out six.

Ryan doubled off Bard starter Kane Morgan (0-1) to begin the game. Margiloff bunted his way aboard and Sullivan doubled in both runners for a 2-0 lead. Sullivan advanced to third on a ground out and scored when a throw back to the pitcher got away after a pop out. 

Up 3-1, the Bobcats plated two more runs in the second frame. With one away, Margiloff launched a solo home run to left-center. Sullivan walked and Thompson got hit by a pitch. The duo pulled off a double steal and Sullivan eventually scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Tucker.

Four more runs crossed the plate for Bates in the third. Yoxall walked and Ryan got hit by a pitch. Both runners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch and Margiloff reached on an infield single, driving in Yoxall. Sullivan followed with a three-run home run and just like that it was 9-1 in favor of Bates.

The Bobcats scored in every inning except the eighth in game two. A wild pitch plated Yoxall in the fourth, senior captain Liam Yardley (Keene, N.H.) doubled in Thompson in the fifth, Swift singled in Margiloff in the sixth, and a bases-loaded walk to Sullivan followed by Swift getting hit by a pitch plated two more in the seventh. Tucker got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Federico delivered a sacrifice fly, and first-year Jackson McBride (Hanover, N.H.) walked with the bases juiced in the ninth to cap off the scoring for Bates.

Margiloff and Sullivan combined to both score and drive in eight runs in the win. The Bobcats out-hit the Raptors 15-10. 

Bates is now hitting .354 with a 1.092 OPS as a team through five games.