WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Bates College has fielded a varsity baseball team every year since 1872. And the Bobcats had never started a season 10-1, until now. Senior John Tully won his fourth straight start, senior Gibby Sullivan went yard, and the Bates baseball team defeated Macalester 7-2 Saturday at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

It's the best start for the Bobcats through 11 games in program history. And their nine straight wins matches the longest winning streak in program history. 

Tully (Framingham, Mass.) allowed just one run on four hits in six innings pitched while striking out a season-high five to pick up the victory. 

Per usual, the Bobcats wasted no time grabbing the early lead. Junior captain Keagan Ryan (Salem, N.H.) reached on an error leading off the game. One out later, Ryan stole second and Sullivan (Yarmouth, Maine) singled him home. A pair of wild pitches moved Sullivan to third and sophomore David Swift (Yarmouth, Maine) drew a walk. Swift stole second and the throw got away, allowing Sullivan to score and putting Bates up 2-0. 

Josh Schmidt entered the game for Macalester starter Evan Kang (1-1) in the second inning and shut down Bates until the top of the fifth. That's when Sullivan took Schmidt deep for a lead-off solo home run, extending the lead to 3-0. It's Sullivan's second home run of the season.

Macalester (9-7) finally pushed across a run against Tully (4-0) in the bottom of the sixth. Raymond McCaskey doubled with one away and John McMurray singled him home. But Tully got the next two batters to pop out to end the inning.

Up 3-1, the Bobcats picked up three big insurance runs in the top of the seventh. With one out, sophomore Tyler Tucker (Hamilton, N.J.) singled to left. Sophomore Max Dushney (Ashland, Mass.) followed with a single of his own and senior Joe Yoxall (Dallas, Texas) doubled Tucker home for a 4-1 lead. Then with two down, senior Jack Margiloff (Rye, N.Y.) singled home Dushney and Yoxall, breaking the game open a bit to 6-1.

Senior Diego Sarabia (Mableton, Ga.) entered the game out of the bullpen in the seventh for just the third relief appearance of his save. He pitched the final three innings, giving up just one run and earning his first collegiate save.

Meanwhile, the Bobcats added another run in the top of the eighth. Sullivan singled, Swift got hit by a pitch, and junior Luke Yoon (Honolulu, Hawaii) bunted the runners up 90 feet. Sophomore John Federico (Durham, N.H.) capped off the scoring for Bates with a sacrifice fly to eighth.

The Bobcats out-hit Macalester 13-6 in the contest. They return home this Wednesday when Bates hosts the University of Maine at Farmington for a 3 p.m. first pitch at Leahey Field.