Hartford, Conn. – Junior CF Scott Huley (Greenwich, Conn.) drove home the game-winning run in the ninth inning and senior captain RHPDavid O'Brien (Fairfield, Conn.) struck out four to earn the win on the mound with two innings of hitless relief, as the Trinity College Bantams salvaged game three of a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) East Division three-game series, 2-1, in the nightcap of a baseball doubleheader against the visiting Bates College Bobcats this afternoon.  Trinity, which lost the first game, 12-7, in eight innings after dropping the series opener yesterday afternoon, 9-2, is now 10-16 overall and 4-8 in the NESCAC East.  Bates moves to 13-11 overall and 4-3 in the division.  Both seven-inning games went into extra frames.

Following four consecutive scoreless innings, Trinity junior 2B Connor Sullivan (Fairfield, Conn.) and rookie SS Nick DiBenedetto (Fort Myers, Fla.) hit back-to-back singles with one out in the bottom of the ninth.  After a strikeout, Bantam freshman RF Nick Pezzella(Worcester, Mass.) singled to load the bases and Huley blasted a shot to the wall in left-center that scored the clinching run.  O'Brien faced eight batters in two innings to improve to 3-1 on the hill, inheriting a runner with none out in the eighth frame and leaving him stranded and fanning the side in the ninth after the leadoff Bobcat had reached on an error.

Trinity had scored first when junior 1B Bryan Wolfe (La Habra Heights, Calif.) drew a leadoff walk and scored on a hit batsman by DiBenedetto.  Bates tied the game in the fourth inning when junior Mekae Hyde (Lewiston, Maine) belted an RBI double, but Bobcat sophomore Evan Czopek (Portland, Oregon) was gunned out at the plate later in the play.  Bates put a runner in scoring in the fifth inning, but the rally ended on a double play, as Trinity senior captain RHP Ryan Carr (Cos Cob, Conn.) allowed eight hits and one run with one walk and four strikeouts in seven-plus innings.  Trinity nearly ended it in both the seventh and eighth frames, putting a runner on second in each inning, but Bobcat senior reliever Dean Bonneau (Amherst, Mass.) pitched out of trouble both times before suffering the loss in the ninth.  Bobcat junior starter Will Levangie (Frederick, Md.) lasted 6.1 innings and yielded four hits and a run with two walks and five K's, while Hyde and junior OF Rockwell Jackson (Fort Worth, Texas) each had two hits for Bates.  Sullivan and sophomore C Scott Cullinane (East Greenwich, R.I.) were both 2-for-4 for the Trinity offense in game two.

Bates won a wild affair in the opener, scoring six runs in the top of the eighth inning after Trinity had forced the extra frame with two runs in the sixth and seventh.  Trinity led, 1-0, on a two-out RBI single by Huley in the bottom of the first, but fell behind, 3-1, when Bates scored one earned and two unearned runs.  The Bobcats tacked on three more in the top of the fifth thanks to a leadoff, solo homer by senior captain Griff Tewksbury (Concord, N.H.), a bases-loaded balk, and a two-out, run-scoring single by freshman Brendan Fox (West Hartford, Conn.).  Bantam juniorCarson Kenney (Kensington, Md.) had an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, and a leadoff double by Huley and an RBI single by freshman Chris Leach (Belle Mead, N.J.) highlighted a two-run sixth for the home team. 

Wolfe walked to start the bottom of the seventh inning, followed by a Huley single, and a one-out RBI base knock by sophomore Matt Mortimer (Spencer, Mass.).  Leach scored Huley with a sacrifice fly to center field, but Bobcat sophomore Rob DiFranco (Melrose, Mass.) got out of the jam with a strikeout.  Bates registered seven singles, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch before making an out in the eighth inning with junior Nick Pajka (Douglas, Mass.) driving home the go-ahead run before five more Bobcats came around to score.  Trinity sophomore Sam Jordan (Sherborn, Mass.) had an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth frame and the Bantams loaded the bases, but Bates sophomore hurler Sam Warren (Norfolk, Va.) escaped a big inning with a fly ball for the final out.  DiFranco got the win in relief, while sophomore lefty Nick Meninno (Swampscott, Mass.) was Trinity's most effective pitcher with 1.1 innings of scoreless work.  Huley and Kenney were both 3-for-5 at the plate for Trinity, and Fox and Hyde were each 3-for-4 for the Bobcats who pounded 17 hits and boasted seven players with multiple hits.