WHITTIER, Calif. -- The Bates baseball team jumped out to an early lead and held on to defeat Whittier by a score of 6-5 Tuesday afternoon for their first win of the season.
The Bobcats (1-2) never trailed against the Poets (2-6) after pouncing early to take a 5-0 lead through three innings .
Senior co-captain Ryan McCarthy (Plaistow, N.H.) led off the game with a double down the left field line. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single off the bat of first-year Kyle Carter (Plantation, Fla.).
Carter moved to second on a ground-out and advanced to third when senior Brendon Canavan (Carlisle, Mass.) reached on an infield single.
Senior John Dinucci (West Hartford, Conn.) singled in Carter to make the score 2-0 in favor of Bates.
With two outs and nobody on in the top of the second, McCarthy homered for the fifth time in his career to make it 3-0 Bobcats.
James Beaudin (0-2) started for the Poets and only lasted two innings, giving up three runs on six hits. Reliever Royce Komesu entered in the third and immediately gave up back-to-back singles to Canavan and Dinucci.
Then sophomore Daniel Trulli (Melrose, Mass.) singled to right, driving in Canavan. A two-base error by the Whittier right fielder allowed Dinucci to score as well, extending the Bobcat edge to 5-0.
Junior Connor Russell (Cumberland, Maine) got the start for Bates on Tuesday and pitched three scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fourth.
The Poets took advantage of a lead-off base-on-balls to score four times in the frame, trimming the Bobcat lead to 5-4.
Matthew Macey doubled in Jake Raynaud for the first run of the inning. After Tanner Marcoe reached on a bunt single, Michael Angulo singled in Macey to make the score 5-2. Will Reader lay down a bunt and reached on a Bobcat error. Marcoe scored on the play to narrow the score further. Dmitri Washington capped off the scoring by bunting in another run. He was thrown out on the play for the first out of the inning.
Russell retired the next two batters as well to escape with no further damage. The left-hander tallied a no-decision with four innings pitched, four hits allowed, four runs (three earned), one walk and three strikeouts.
The Bobcats picked up a massive insurance run in the top of the sixth.
Senior co-captain Brendan Fox (West Hartford, Conn.) drew a lead-off walk. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a Canavan grounder.
With two away, Trulli came up big with a single through the right side, scoring Fox and making the score 6-4 in favor of Bates.
The Bobcat bullpen held up nicely on Tuesday.
Sophomore Alex Simon (Windsor, Conn.) tossed two shutout innings to earn the win. Senior Matt Casieri (Medfield, Mass.) tossed a scoreless seventh and a scoreless eighth. But he allowed Marcoe to reach on a lead-off single in the ninth.
The Bobcats brought in senior Matt Doyle (Northborough, Mass.) to try and close things out. Marcoe stole second and stole third. He scored on an Angulo grounder for out number one. After Reader flew out, Washington drew a walk. Doyle got the third and final out when he got pinch hitter Hank Burditt to fly out.
Bates pounded out 15 hits in the win but left 11 men on base. McCarthy finished 3-5 with two runs scored, a double, a homer and a run batted in. Carter went 2-5 with a run scored and a run batted in. Fox drew a pair of walks and went 1-3 with a run scored. Canavan went 3-5 with a run scored. Dinucci went 2-5 with a run scored and a run batted in and Trulli went 2-5 with two runs batted in.
The Bobcats visit CAL Tech on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. eastern/3:00 p.m. pacific.