AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- Senior
Gibby Sullivan drove in the go-ahead run, sophomore
Charlie Bushley tossed a career-high 4.2 innings out of the bullpen, and the Bates baseball team continued their historic start to the season with a 6-3 victory over Framingham State Thursday at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
Remarkably, it's the best start through nine games for Bates baseball (8-1) since 1892.
With the score tied at one, senior
Jack Margiloff (Rye, N.Y.) doubled to start the top of the sixth. The Rams (2-3) tried to pick him off but a bad throw allowed Margiloff to take third. Then Sulivan (Yarmouth, Maine) delivered a sacrifice fly to center, putting the Bobcats ahead for good.
Bates added to the lead in the top of the seventh with a pair of runs. Sophomore
John Federico (Durham, N.H.) reached on an error to begin the frame. A pair of wild pitches moved him to third and one out later junior
Luke Yoon (Honolulu, Hawaii) got hit by a pitch. First-year
Jackson McBride (Hanover, N.H.) pinch ran for Yoon and promptly stole second. Senior
Joe Yoxall (Dallas, Texas) delivered a single through the left side that plated Federico for a 3-1 Bates lead. Junior captain
Keagan Ryan (Salem, N.H.) bunted his way aboard to load the bases, and with two down Sullivan drew a walk to drive in another run.
Federico got the offense going in the top of the eighth with a one-out single through the left side. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored when sophomore
Tyler Tucker (Hamilton, N.J.) ripped a double to left and the Bobcats led 5-1.
First-year
Brady Thompson (Newark, Del.) got the start on the mound for the Bobcats and tossed three innings of one-run ball. He allowed just one hit and struck out four but he did walk five batters.
Thompson walked the lead-off batter in the fourth and Bushley (Cohasset, Mass.) entered the game in relief. He took care of business for the next four innings, striking out three. Bushley (1-0) got the first two batters out in the eighth before the Rams strung together four straight singles to cut the Bates lead to 5-3. Sophomore
Charlie Cariello (Bedford, N.H.) came in and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. But Cariello put out the fire when Colin Johnson lined out to Yoxall at second base.
Now up by two, the Bobcats picked up an insurance tally in the top of the ninth. Margiloff walked, Sullivan got hit by a pitch, and sophomore
David Swift (Yarmouth, Maine) bunted his way on to load the bases. Two outs later, Tucker drew a walk and Bates led 6-3.
Cariello worked around a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth to secure the save.
Each team tallied seven hits in the contest. Federico paced Bates at the plate, going 2-5 with two runs scored. Margiloff and Tucker both recorded doubles and Margiloff scored three runs. Sullivan drove in three runs without recording a hit. He had a sacrifice fly in the first inning, another in the sixth, and a bases-loaded walk in the seventh.
John Lynch based the Rams, going 2-5 with a double and two runs scored. Nicholas Kutcher reached four times, going 2-2 with a run scored and two walks.
The Bobcats are back in action at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Friday when they take on the University of Maine, Presque Isle at 4 p.m.
