BRUNSWICK, Maine -- Bates used timely early offense and two complete-game efforts in the circle to sweep Babson in a non-conference doubleheader Wednesday, taking game one 6–2 before edging the Beavers 2–1 in the nightcap.
The contests were played at Pickard Diamond on the campus of Bowdoin College.
GAME ONE
Bates set the tone early in the opener and never looked back, scoring in each of the first three innings to build a 4–0 cushion before adding insurance late.
LF
Sienna Pietrasiewicz opened the scoring in the first with an RBI single while the Bobcats plated two more in the second inning. DP
Maya Lee delivered an RBI single in the frame that brought home 1B
Sophie Garber after the senior led off with a double. Lee would score on the same play after a costly Babson blunder permitted the junior to advance three bases and come all the way around for an unearned tally.
The Bobcats extended the lead to 4–0 in the third on 2B
Maddy Miller's run-scoring single to right.
Babson got on the board in the fourth with a solo home run from 1B Lexi Sealy,
which clanked off the right-field foul pole, and added another in the fifth, trimming the deficit to 4–2. But Bates responded in the sixth, when SS
Ella Maher ripped a two-run double down the left field line to push the advantage to 6–2.
Maher finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Lee (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI) and Pietrasiewicz (2-for-3, RBI) paced an 11-hit attack for the victors.
In the circle,
Delaney Rankin (3-2) was steady throughout, scattering seven hits and allowing two runs over a complete-game effort (3 K). Anna Topel (2-4) took the loss for the Beavers (6.0 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 4 ER, BB, 5 K).
GAME TWO
In a low-scoring affair, Bates did just enough in the nightcap to secure the sweep.
After Babson (6-8) struck first in the opening frame, the Bobcats answered in the bottom of the second. C
Isabel Bettencourt and RF
Emily Kennedy reached on respective singles to set the table beforeMiller delivered the decisive swing — a two-run double to right center that gave Bates a 2–1 lead.
That would be all the offense Bates needed.
Isabella Albro (1-0) took over from there as the junior righthander limited Babson to one run on six hits (1 BB, 2 K)), working out of a fourth-inning bases-load and keeping the Beavers off the board the rest of the way. Kate Vlacich (0-3) suffered the tough-luck defeat (6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K).
Winners of four-straight, the Bobcats (7-4) prepare to open NESCAC competition this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. with a doubleheader vs. Amherst College.