WHITTIER, Calif. -- The Bates baseball team defeated Whittier College 8-5 and Lewis & Clark 8-4 on Saturday to wrap up their California trip with a doubleheader sweep. The Bobcats (3-2) are averaging 6.4 runs per game through their first five contests this season and their new-look offense impressed again on Saturday.
Bates pounded out a combined 20 hits in the two games. Brendan Fox '17 (West Hartford, Conn.) went 5-9 over the course of the doubleheader with three RBI and a run scored. Samuel Warren '16 (Norfolk, Va.) went 2-4 with five runs scored, two RBI and five walks on the day. Ryan McCarthy '17 (Plaistow, N.H.) scored four runs of his own while tallying two hits and drawing three walks in the lead-off spot both games.
Game One
Bates used a big sixth inning to prevail 8-5 in their morning contest against Whittier College.
Down 2-1 with one away in the top of the sixth, Christian Colon '19 (Hamden, Conn.) reached on an error. Warren drew a walk and Brendon Canavan '17 (Carlisle, Mass.) doubled in Colon to tie the game at two. Fox continued his hot hitting with a RBI single to score Warren and give Bates a 3-2 lead. The single chased Whittier starter Nick Garcia from the game. Reliever Royce Komesu entered and was greeted by a Conor Reenstierna '16 (Lincoln, Mass.) RBI single which plated Canavan to make it 4-2 in favor of the Bobcats. Another Whittier error later in the inning allowed Reenstierna to cross the plate, extending the Bates advantage to 5-2.
But the Poets (1-8) didn't go away quietly. They plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the Bates lead to 5-4. Brandon Mulrooney singled through the right side against Bates reliever Rob DiFranco '16 (Melrose, Mass.) to begin the frame. One out later Mulrooney stole second and Max Morohashi drew a walk. A passed ball moved both runners up 90 feet and Jake Raynaud singled them both home. DiFranco got the next batter to hit into a double play, ending the inning and keeping the Bates lead intact by one run.
Whittier brought in Justin Kottinger to pitch the eighth and Fox greeted him with a double to right. Bates bunted Fox to third and Whittier intentionally walked Eric Vilanova '17 (Bridgeport, Conn.). Vilanova promptly stole second and Asher MacDonald '18 (Hillsborough, N.C.) drove in the insurance run with a sacrifice fly.
Up 6-4, the Bobcats tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth. McCarthy drew a lead-off walk. Bates bunted McCarthy to second and he advanced to third on a wild pitch. Warren drew a walk and the Bobcats pulled off the first and third double steal. Warren swiped second and McCarthy scored on the play when the Poets unsuccessfully tried to throw out Warren. Warren proceeded to also steal third base and with two outs he scored on a Whittier error to make it 8-4 in favor of Bates.
Chris Ward '16 (Pasadena, Calif.) gave up a run in the ninth but was able to finish things off for the Bobcats, getting Dylan DeBrouwer to ground out for the final out of the game.
Anthony Telesca '17 (Holtsville, N.Y.) picked up the win for the Bobcats, tossing five innings, allowing only two runs (one earned) on four hits. He did not walk anyone and struck out four.
Bates grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. With two outs, Warren drew a walk. He stole second and Canavan reached on an infield single. Fox singled home Warren but Canavan was thrown out attempting to advance to third on the play, ending the inning.
Mulrooney singled to begin the bottom of the first against Telesca (1-0). He stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. With two away, Raynaud singled home Mulrooney, knotting the game up at one.
Over the course of the next three innings Telesca only allowed one Poet to reach base. He struck out the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the fifth before Tanner Marcoe doubled to left. Marcoe stole third and scored on a Bates error to give the Poets a 2-1 lead.
But Telesca got Raynaud to ground out to end the fifth and the Bobcats took the lead for good with their four-run sixth inning.
Game Two
Bates jumped out to an early lead and never trailed in their 8-4 victory over Lewis & Clark Saturday afternoon.
The Bobcats scored two runs in the top of the first against Pioneers starter Robert Reaser.
McCarthy walked to start the game. The Bobcats bunted McCarthy to second and Warren drew a walk as well. Warren stole second base and a poor throw by the Pioneers catcher allowed McCarthy to score. It was the first of six Lewis & Clark errors on the day.
A wild pitch moved Warren to third and Fox drew a walk. Evan Czopek '16 (Portland, Ore.) executed a perfect squeeze bunt to drive in Warren, extending the Bates lead to 2-0. A line out ended the inning but Bates led 2-0 without recording a hit.
Bates got their first hit of the game in the top of the third when McCarthy reached on an infield single. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third when John Dinucci '17 (West Hartford, Conn.) reached on a sacrifice bunt attempt that was booted by Reaser.
With runners at the corners and nobody out, Warren played small ball with a squeeze bunt to drive in McCarthy and move Dinucci to second base.
Bates led 3-0 through three innings.
The Pioneers (6-6) finally got to Bates starter Connor Russell '18 (Cumberland, Maine) in the bottom of the fourth. Matt Donovan started the inning with a single to right. Cooper Larson followed with a double, putting runners at second and third with nobody out. Sean Shepherd drove in a run with a groundout to second. But that's all the damage the Pioneers could muster as Russell got the next batter to fly out to center and he struck out Nick Lockwood to end the frame.
Up 3-1, Bates got an insurance run in the top of the fifth. Joe Dinoto '19 (West Friendship, Md.) doubled to start the frame. McCarthy reached on an error but Dinoto was thrown out on the play. McCarthy stole second and came around to score when Dinucci reached on yet another Lewis & Clark error.
The Pioneers cut into the deficit with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame. With one out Spencer Gutterman singled up the middle. Then with two away Bradley Lezak doubled him home to trim the Bates lead to 4-2.
Russell (1-0) tossed five innings, giving up two runs on five hits. He did not walk anyone and struck out five to pick up the win.
For the second straight game, Bates had a big sixth inning at the plate. Canavan drew a lead-off base-on-balls, chasing Reaser from the game. Reenstierna greeted new pitcher John Trupin with a single to right. Dinoto reached on a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out. McCarthy singled home Canavan and one out later Warren drew a walk, forcing in another run. The Pioneers committed yet another error on a ball off the bat of Fox, allowing the third run of the inning to cross the plate, extending the Bates lead to 7-2.
The Pioneers did tally a couple of runs in the bottom of the sixth against Bates reliever Mark Cunningham '16 (Canton, Mass.). Larson got hit by a pitch leading off the inning and Shepherd drew a walk. One out later a wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet and Lockwood singled them home to cut the Bates lead to 7-4. But DiFranco came in out of the bullpen and induced an inning-ending double play to get Bates out of further trouble.
The Bobcats added one more run in the top of the eighth. Warren got things going with a single up the middle. He stole second base and scored on a Fox single to center.
Connor Colombo '16 (Mendon, Mass.) and Ward combined to toss three shutout innings out of the bullpen to finish off the Pioneers.
Bates is back in action Saturday, March 12 as they head to Auburndale, Florida to take on UMass Boston in a doubleheader as part of the RussMatt Invitational starting at 1:30 p.m. eastern time.