LEWISTON, Maine -- Four Bates baseball pitchers combined to no-hit the University of Maine at Farmington Beavers and the Bobcats rolled to a 17-0 win Wednesday afternoon at Leahey Field.
It's the first no-hitter thrown by the Bates baseball team since Mike Kinsman '05 threw a five-inning no-hitter in 2004 against the University of Maine at Presque Isle in a game that ended early due to a mercy rule. It is not known the last time Bates pitching threw a nine-inning no-hitter, if ever.
The Bobcats (3-11) got masterful performances from senior Ian McAslan (Baltimore, Md.), junior Max Dio (Wellfleet, Mass.), senior Christopher McGrail (Dedham, Mass.), and senior David Miller (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) on Wednesday, with McAslan (1-1) going the first five innings to earn the win. He walked two and struck out two. Dio tossed two scoreless innings, walking one and striking out two. McGrail worked a perfect eighth, striking out one. Then Miller sealed the no-hitter with a perfect ninth, striking out Camden Cook looking to end the game.
Offensively, junior Jack Margiloff (Rye, N.Y.) led the way for Bates, going 3-5 with a run scored and five RBIs. Sophomore Keagan Ryan (Salem, N.H.) also tallied three hits, going 3-4 with three runs scored and an RBI. Senior Ben Genser (Newton, Mass.) finished 2-3 with a double, three runs scored, an RBI, and a walk. First-year David Swift (Yarmouth, Maine) had a strong day at the plate as well, going 2-3 with a run scored, an RBI, and a walk.
McAslan retired the side in order in the top of the first, and the Bobcats tallied their first run of the game in the bottom half. With one out, Ryan got hit by a pitch. He stole second and advanced to third on a Beaver throwing error. Then junior Gibby Sullivan (Yarmouth, Maine) drove Ryan home with a sacrifice fly.
Nate Coombs drew a lead-off walk in the top of the second and eventually made his way to third. But McAslan struck out the next batter and got two straight foul outs to end the inning with Coombs stranded 90 feet away.
The Beavers (4-11) committed six errors in the game, three of them coming in the second inning. The Bobcats took advantage of the miscues to score two unearned runs off UMF starting pitcher Aaron Goschke (0-2), one coming across on a wild pitch, and another on a Ryan RBI single.
McAslan was able to work around another lead-off walk in the third. The Beavers bunted the runner over, but they couldn't push him across as McAslan got a fly out and a ground out to leave another runner stranded.
Genser smacked a one-out double in the third and scored on Margiloff's two-out single up the middle.
Up 4-0 through three innings, the Bobcats broke the game open in the fourth. McAslan worked a 1-2-3 top half of the frame, and Bates put up five runs in the bottom half. With the bases loaded and one out, Swift delivered an RBI single and Genser drew a walk, making the score 6-0. An RBI groundout by senior captain Brandon Biggane (Rensselaer, N.Y.) added another tally, and Margiloff continued his hot hitting with another two-out hit. This time, his two-RBI single up the middle brought in Genser and Swift.
McAslan retired the final nine batters he faced, as he worked another perfect inning in the fifth.
Dio entered the game in the sixth and retired the side in order. Then the Bates offense tallied four more runs in their half of the frame. Biggane and Margiloff both tallied RBI singles in the sixth, and more shaky UMF defense helped two additional runs score.
Coombs drew his second walk of the game with one out in the seventh, ending a string of 13 in a row retired by Bates pitching. But Dio had no problem getting the next two batters to fly out and strike out respectively.
Two Bates players tallied their first collegiate hits in the bottom of the seventh. First-year John Federico (Durham, N.H.) ripped an opposite-field double, and first-year Will Thompson (Oakton, Va.) reached on an infield single. Thompson's hit drove in Ryan, and the Bobcats continued to string together strong at bats, scoring four runs in the inning to go up 17-0.
First-year catcher Max Dushney (Ashland, Mass.), who caught all nine innings of the no-hitter, provided the capper for the offense in the seventh, singling in fellow rookie Tyler Tucker (Hamilton, N.J.) with a line drive to center.
McGrail and Miller finished things off, with Miller making his first appearance since sophomore year, and just the sixth of his career.
The Bobcats return to Leahey Field this Friday when they host Bowdoin in NESCAC action at 3 p.m.