AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- The Bates baseball team struck first and never looked back on their way to a 15-7 win over the University of Maine, Presque Isle Friday afternoon at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

The Bobcats (9-1) have won eight straight games and are hitting .328 as a team with a .968 OPS on the season.

Junior Theo Zacharia (Manhasset, N.Y.) made his first collegiate start and blanked the Owls (2-7) over the course of five innings. He allowed just one hit and struck out eight batters.

Zacharia (2-0) tossed a 1-2-3 first inning and junior captain Keagan Ryan (Salem, N.H.) got the offense going in the bottom half of the frame by getting hit by a pitch. He stole second and stole third. Then senior Jack Margiloff (Rye, N.Y.) drove Ryan home with a sacrifice fly to right, giving Bates a 1-0 lead.

The Bobcats took advantage of a two-out error in the third to plate four runs. Senior Gibby Sullivan (Yarmouth, Maine) reached on the Owl error and sophomore David Swift (Yarmouth, Maine) got hit by a pitch. The Bobcats proceeded to string together four straight hits, starting with junior Henry Prince (McLean, Va.) singling home Sullivan. Sophomore John Federico (Durham, N.H.) singled in Swift, sophomore Tyler Tucker (Hamilton, N.J.) reached on an infield single to load the bases, and sophomore Max Dushney (Ashland, Mass.) plated Prince and Federico with a single of his own, making the score 5-0 in favor of the Bobcats. 

Zacharia retired the first nine batters he faced before giving up a lead-off double to Ronnie Golmon in the fourth. He hit the next batter but was able to get out of the jam, helped out by Dushney catching Golmon trying to steal third.

Margiloff got hit by a pitch with one out in the fourth. Then with two away, Swift singled him to third and advanced to second. Prince singled home both runners and Bates led 7-0.

The Owls cut the lead to four with two runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh. But the Bobcats answered with four runs in the bottom of the seventh. Tucker walked to start the frame and junior Luke Yoon (Honolulu, Hawaii) doubled him to third. Senior Joe Yoxall (Dallas, Texas) drove in Tucker with a sacrifice fly and first-year Brady Thompson (Newark, Del.) doubled in Yoon. Thompson stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Margiloff drew a walk and stole second. Sullivan doubled him across the plate, putting the Bobcats ahead 11-3.

UMPI didn't back down, plating four runs in the top of the eighth to cut the deficit to 11-7. However, the Bates offense was too much, scoring four runs of their own in the bottom of the eighth. Federico singled to get things started, stealing second and third and scoring on a wild pitch. Junior Tyler Canna (Rye, N.Y.) and Yoon drew back-to-back walks and Yoxall singled to load the bases. With one away, Margiloff singled in Canna and Sullivan plated Yoon with an RBI fielder's choice. A Swift infield single scored Yoxall to cap off the scoring for Bates.

The Bobcats stole a season-high 11 bases in the win. Federico led the way at the plate, going 3-5 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI. Margiloff, Swift, and Prince tallied two hits apiece, with Margiloff finishing 2-2 with two runs scored, two RBIs, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch. Prince drove in three runs and Sullivan plated two.

Sophomore Ezra Pate (Baton Rouge, La.) tossed two shutout innings out of the bullpen to lock down the win for Bates.

Bates wraps up the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Saturday when they play Macalester at 1 p.m. in Winter Haven at Chain of Lakes Park #1.

If the Bobcats beat Macalester, it will be the first 10-1 start in the 154-year history of Bates baseball and match the longest winning streak in program history.