Bates College

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates baseball team fell short in a doubleheader Saturday against No. 22 nationally ranked Tufts by scores of 6-1 and 8-4. 

The Bobcats (17-10, 4-8 NESCAC East) look to bounce back next Saturday when they host Lesley for a Senior Day doubleheader starting at noon.

Game One: No. 22 Tufts 6, Bates 1

The Jumbos scored five times in the sixth inning to run away with a 6-1 win over Bates in game one of Saturday's doubleheader.

Emmet Christian (4-1) went the distance for the visitors on the mound, giving up just a lone run in seven innings pitched, allowing only three hits while striking out eight.

A Gavin Lind RBI single put Tufts up 1-0 in the second inning and the score remained that way until the sixth. Sophomore starting pitcher Charlie Bushley (Cohasset, Mass.) was effective for the Bobcats, but Jesse McCullough got the Tufts offense going in the sixth with a lead-off single. Then a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third. Jack Kamin followed with an infield single, driving in a run, and Malcolm Whitfield reached on an infield single to load the bases.

A wild pitch scored Kamin and Tom Pender broke the game open with a two-RBI double, making the score 6-0 in favor of Tufts and chasing Bushley (2-1) from the game.

Bates finally got on the board in the bottom of the seventh. With one away, junior Henry Prince (McLean, Va.) ripped a double down the left field line. Sophomore John Federico (Durham, N.H.) singled him to third and first-year Brady Thompson (Newark, Del.) delivered a sacrifice fly for the lone run of the game for Bates.

Thompson paced the Bobcats at the place, going 1-2 with a double and an RBI. The Jumbos tallied nine hits, led by Pender who went 2-3 with a double, a run scored, and two RBIs.

Game Two: No. 22 Tufts 8, Bates 4

Tufts rallied from down 4-2 with six unanswered runs, defeating the Bobcats 8-4 in game two of Saturday's doubleheader.

McCullough once again got the Jumbo offense started, singling to left to start the top of the fifth. James Henshon doubled him to third and a Kamin sacrifice fly trimmed the Bates lead to 4-3. With two away, Whitfield reached on a Bates error and Henshon scored on the play, tying the game at four.

Owen McKiernan got hit by a pitch to start the sixth and Lind bunted him to second. Caden Abraham followed with an RBI single up the middle the Jumbos led 5-4. Bates starting pitcher junior Nolan Hobbs (South Portland, Maine) got out of the inning without any further damage, but departed after six innings with the Bobcats trailing by one. He allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits while striking out six.

Tufts (21-8, 6-3 NESCAC) tacked on another run in the seventh and two more in the ninth for their final margin of victory.

The Bates offense got to Tufts starting pitcher Michael O'Brien, scoring one run in the third and three more in the fourth. 

Thompson singled to start the third inning and senior captain Liam Yardley (Keene, N.H.) bunted him to second. Senior Joe Yoxall (Dallas, Texas) singled up the middle to drive in Thompson, tying the game at one. 

Tufts took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth on a McKiernan solo home run. But the Bobcats answered in the bottom half of the frame. Senior Gibby Sullivan (Yarmouth, Maine) singled up the middle to get the offense started and one out later Prince singled him to second. A Federico single loaded the bases and Thompson found a hole on the right side, delivering a two-RBI single and putting the Bobcats up 3-2. Yardley followed with an RBI single of his own and Bates led 4-2.

With two outs and runners at second and third, the Jumbos brought in Mitchell Hwang and he got the final out of the inning.

That was only the start for Hwang (4-0), as he finished the game, tossing 5.1 innings and allowing just two hits and no runs. He struck out four batters along the way and the Jumbos rallied on offense for the victory. The 4-2 lead for Bates didn't make it past the fifth inning.

Tufts finished the game with 10 hits, led by Kamin, McKiernan, and Abraham, who all tallied two hits apiece. Bates finished with nine hits, paced by Federico and Thompson, who both went 2-4. Federico recorded a double and a run scored while Thompson scored a run while also driving in two.