CLAREMONT, Calif. -- The Bates baseball team put a scare into the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens with a late rally but could not quite complete the comeback in a 7-5 defeat Wednesday afternoon.
Trailing 7-0 in their season-opener, Bates (0-1) came storming back in the eighth inning against Pomona-Pitzer (6-2) reliever Jacob McGowan. With two outs and nobody on, Ryan McCarthy '17 (Plaistow, N.H.) tripled to left field. John Dinucci '17 (West Hartford, Conn.) singled in McCarthy for Bates' first run of the game. Conor Reenstierna '16 (Lincoln, Mass.) and Evan Czopek '16 (Portland, Ore.) drew back-to-back walks to load the bases.
Brendan Fox '17 (West Harford, Conn.) singled in Dinucci and Reenstierna. On the play, a Pomona-Pitzer throwing error allowed Czopek to score as well. Fox advanced to second on the error and scored on a Christian Colon '19 (Hamden, Conn.) single.
All of a sudden, Bates found themselves down just 7-5. Simon Rosenbaum came in to pitch and surrendered a single to Asher MacDonald '18 (Hillsborough, N.C.). But he got Brendon Canavan '17 (Carlisle, Mass.) to line out to left to end the frame.
Anthony Telesca '17 (Holtsville, N.Y.) tossed a perfect 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth for the Bobcats.
Rosenbaum went back out to the bump to pitch the ninth for the Sagehens. Down two, Bates couldn't get anything going as Rosenbaum retired the side in order to earn his first save of the year.
The Bobcats got out-hit 10-6 in the game and committed three errors in the field. Meanwhile the Sagehens only committed one error. Bates left six men on base and the Sagehens left 10 men stranded.
The Bobcats struggled offensively early in the contest. Pomona-Pitzer used a different pitcher every inning throughout the game. Starter Nicholas Radich (1-0) was credited with the win despite only pitching the first inning for the Sagehens.
McCarthy got hit by a pitch to begin the game in the top of the first. The Bobcats bunted him to second and he advanced to third on a passed ball. But a strikeout and a groundout ended the early Bates threat.
The Sagehens got on the board in the first inning thanks to some two-out offense. Kevin Brice got hit by a pitch to start the frame. The Sagehens bunted him to second before Bates starter Connor Colombo '16 (Mendon, Mass.) struck out Rosenbaum for out number two. But Rob Simsiman doubled home Brice and Bryce Rogan singled home Simsiman to make it 2-0 in favor of Pomona-Pitzer.
Bates went down in order in the second inning before McCarthy got hit by another pitch with two outs in the third. He stole second but was left stranded there when another groundout ended the inning.
An unearned run crossed the plate in the fourth for the Sagehens. Matt Omori singled to lead things off and advanced to second on a Bates error. Another Bobcat error allowed Jeremy Burton to reach safely and Omori advanced 90 feet to third. Adam Hinthorne singled home Omori and the Sagehens grabbed a 3-0 lead. After the Hinthorne single, Pomona-Pitzer loaded the bases with one out but Colombo struck out Rosenbaum again and got Simsiman to fly out to end the inning.
Colombo (0-1) went four innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits, walking two and striking out four.
Bates got their first hit of the game in the top of the fifth. With one away, MacDonald drew a walk. That's when Canavan singled him to second for the first Bobcat hit of the game. But a strikeout and a flyout ended the threat.
The Sagenhens added to their lead against reliever Mark Cunningham '16 (Canton, Mass.) in the fifth inning. Tanner Nishioka got hit by a pitch leading-off the inning. He went to second on a walk, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on another wild pitch to extend the Sagehens lead to 4-0. Burton drew a walk and stole second base. Hinthorne tallied his second RBI of the afternoon with a single to drive in Burton, making the score 5-0 in favor of Pomona-Pitzer.
First-year Justin Foley (Lynnfield, Mass.) tossed a scoreless sixth inning for the Bobcats but Connor Russell '18 (Cumberland, Maine) ran into trouble in the seventh.
Nishioka greeted Russell with a double to left field. He stole third and scored on an Omori infield single. Two outs later, Brice doubled in Omori to give the Sagehens a 7-0 lead. They barely held on from there.
The Bobcats are in action again Thursday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. eastern time when they take on Whittier.