April 7, 2019

Bates baseball earns series victory over Trinity with doubleheader split

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LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates baseball team split a doubleheader with Trinity College on Sunday, winning game one 7-6 in extra innings before dropping game two 7-3, taking two of three from Trinity overall and marking the fourth time in the last six years the Bobcats have won the season series against the Bantams.

The Bobcats (9-10, 3-3 NESCAC East) return to action Saturday when they take on Wesleyan in a doubleheader starting at noon. Trinity (15-4, 4-2 NESCAC East) hosts Williams Tuesday at 4pm. 

Game One: Bates 7, Trinity 6 (9 innings)

Senior Justin White drove in first-year Antonio Jareno with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth and the Bobcats prevailed 7-6 in game one of Sunday's doubleheader. 

Scheduled for seven innings, the game went extra innings after the Bantams tied the game in the top of the seventh. With one out, Johnny Stamatis reached on an infield bloop single that landed by second base. He stole second base and advanced to third on a Vincent Capone fly out to center. With the Bantams down to their final strike, Stamatis scored on a wild pitch, tying the game at six.

After the Bobcats did not score in the bottom of the seventh, junior Miles Michaud (Madison, Conn.) worked around a one-out single in the eighth, striking out a pair of batters to end the inning. The Bobcats loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth but did not score. Stamatis singled with two outs in the top of the ninth. He stole second base but junior captain catcher Jack Arend (Newfields, N.H.) caught him trying to steal third, ending the threat. 

In the bottom of the ninth, Jareno (Marietta, Ga.) doubled to right-center off Alex Herbst (1-1) to start the frame. The Bantams intentionally walked Arend and brought in Justin Olson out of the bullpen. Jareno and Arend pulled off a double steal and White (Whitesboro, N.Y.) lifted a fly ball to center, driving in Jareno and setting off a wild celebration in the infield. 

Before winning in extra innings, Bates rallied from a 5-2 deficit to take a 6-5 lead. 

First-year Jared Pantalony (Brooklyn, N.Y.) started the game for Bates and gave up three runs on four hits over two innings pitched. Stamatis doubled with two outs in the top of the first and Vincent Capone singled him home to put the Bantams up 1-0. The Bobcats answered in the bottom of the first against Trinity starter Will Simeone. Sophomore Christian Beal (Flossmoor, Ill.) got hit by a pitch to begin the rally and Jareno followed with a single through the left side with Beal running on the pitch. Beal advanced to third and scored on an Arend infield single.

Trinity grabbed a 3-1 lead in the top of the second on a Geoff Stillman two-RBI double. 

Beal sparked another rally in the bottom of the third by drawing a lead-off walk. He stole second and advanced to third on a Jareno fly out. Then Arend drove Beal in with a sacrifice fly, trimming the Trinity lead to 3-2.

Senior Brendan Smith (Hingham, Mass.) tossed a pair of scoreless innings out of the bullpen for Bates before the Bantams scored twice in the fifth. With one away, Stamatis drew a walk. He stole second and advanced to third when the throw went into center field. Capone singled him home to extend the lead to 4-2. He stole second base and with two away, Mike Guanci got hit by a pitch. Ben Reinisch followed with a double to score Capone. But the Bobcats caught Guanci in a rundown, eventually tagging him out between third and home to end the inning.

Down 5-2, the Bobcats wasted no time tying the game in the bottom of the fifth. Junior Kyle Carter (Plantation, Fla.) singled to start the frame and junior Jon Lindgren (Plainville, Conn.) bunted him to second. Beal reached on an infield single and with two away Arend singled home Carter. Beal advanced to third on the play and scored on a wild pitch, cutting the Bantam lead to 5-4. White followed with a single down the left field line to drive in Arend. White was thrown out at second on the play, ending the inning with the score tied at five.

Junior Cameron Carlson (Tampa, Fla.) tossed a scoreless top of the sixth and sophomore Noah Loughlin (Mililani, Hawaii) singled to right field to start the bottom half of the frame. That chased Simeone from the game, as the Bantams brought in Herbst. Senior Dan Trulli (Melrose, Mass.) greeted him with a sacrifice bunt, moving pinch runner sophomore Rob Matson (West Hartford, Conn.) to second base. And with two away, Carter singled in Matson to put Bates up 6-5.

The Bantams tied it off Michaud (1-2) in the seventh inning but the right-hander shut them down over the next two innings to earn the win. 

Bates tallied 10 hits in the contest to the Bantams' nine. Beal went 1-3 with three runs scored and Arend went 2-2 with three RBIs. Jareno continued to hit for Bates, going 2-5 with a double and a run scored. Carter finished 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI. And White went 1-4 with two runs batted in.

For Trinity, Stamatis went 3-4 with three runs scored, a double and walk. Capone went 2-3 with a run scored and two RBIs. Reinisch finished 2-3 with a run scored, a double, an RBI and a walk. 

Game Two: Trinity 7, Bates 3 (7 innings)

Matt Koperniak homered to lead off the top of the first inning and the Bantams scored the first seven runs of the game, defeating the Bobcats 7-3. 

Senior Justin Foley (Lynnfield, Mass.) got the start for Bates, going three and a third innings. After Koperniak homered in the top of the first, he drove in another run with a two-out single in the top of the second. With two outs in the third, Trinity added another run to go up 3-0. Reinisch reached on an infield single and Eric Thronson doubled him home.

The Bantams chased Foley (2-2) in the fourth, scoring four runs to go up 7-0. With two on and one out, Guanci and Stamatis tallied back-to-back RBI singles. Senior captain Alex Simon (Windsor, Conn.) entered the game and Arend caught Stamatis trying to steal second base for the second out of the inning. But Capone singled in a run and Reinisch tripled in Capone to cap off the scoring.

Bates got two runs back off Trinity's Cameron Crowley (3-0) in the bottom of the fourth. First-year Kevin Lucey (Topsfield, Mass.) reached on an error and junior Giovanni Torres (North Haven, Conn.) singled to left. With two away, both runners advanced 90 feet on a wild pitch. Then another wild pitch scored Lucey and Arend drew a walk to put runners at the corners. Jareno singled in Torres to trim the Trinity lead to 7-2.

The Bobcats scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth. With one away, Arend drew a walk. Jareno singled him to second and the Bantams brought in Olson out of the bullpen for the second straight game. White drew a walk to load the bases and Loughlin drove in Arend with a ground out to third. Olson avoided further damage by inducing another ground out, ending the inning.

First-year Grant Iuliano (Waltham, Mass.) impressed out of the bullpen for Bates in the top of the seventh, tossing a 1-2-3 frame. Torres singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh but Bates failed to drive him in.

Trinity out-hit Bates 12-6 in game two. Koperniak, Guanci, Capone, Reinisch and Cronin tallied two hits apiece. Jareno, first-year Bryan Gotti (Westwood, Mass.) and Torres recorded two hits each for Bates. Arend drew three walks and scored a run. Torres reached base safely all four times he came to the plate, finishing 2-2 with two walks.