Hartford, Conn. – Sophomore RHP Anthony Egeln (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) hurled a five-hit shutout with five strikeouts in the first game and senior co-captain C Scott Cullinane (East Greenwich, R.I.) blasted a game-winning, two-run homer in the seventh inning of the second game to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 2/6-1/3 doubleheader sweep against the visiting Bates College Bobcats in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) East Division baseball action this afternoon.  Trinity wins its fifth game in a row to improve to 14-14, sweeps the three-game weekend series against the Bobcats, and clinches its first appearance in the NESCAC Championship Tournament since 2013 with a 7-5 record in the division.  Bates, which lost, 9-8, in yesterday's 10-inning series opener, drops to 10-16 overall and 2-6 in the NESCAC East.

Egeln outdueled Bates sophomore RHP Connor Speed (San Diego, Calif..), who tossed a two-hitter with six 6 K's and did not allow an earned run, and improved to 4-0 with his third complete game in four NESCAC East starts this spring.  The Bobcats took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning when freshman C Christian Colon (Hamden, Conn.) reached on an error and scored on a two-out hit by junior OF Ryan McCarthy (Plaistow, N.H.).  Trinity rookie OF Ian Steckel (Winchester, Mass.) broke up Speed's no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth frame, and scored on a hit batsman by sophomore OF Brendan Pierce (Hingham, Mass.) and two Bobcat errors.  Bantam junior OF Nick Pezzella (Worcester, Mass.) delivered the bases-loaded, game-winning RBI single between first and second base to score Pierce.  Egeln retired the side in order in the eighth inning and withstood a pair of Bates singles in the seventh and final frame, as Trinity turned a double play in the infield and Cullinane gunned down a Bobcat baserunner trying to steal second to end the game.  McCarthy went 2-for-3 for Bates at the plate.

Trinity trailed, 3-1, heading into the bottom of the seventh in the nine-inning nightcap, but plated three runs in the bottom half of the inning and two more in the eighth stanza.  Steckel led off the seventh inning with a solo homer that cleared the deepest part of the park in the right-center field.  Trinity senior Rick Spencer (Madison, Conn.) added a one-out single, and Cullinane homered over the left-field wall to put the Bantams ahead, 4-3.  Trinity senior LHP Jed Robinson (Winchester, Mass.), fresh off a six-inning no-decision in yesterday's game, relieved classmate Sam Jordan (Sherborn, Mass.) in the top of the eighth and tossed two scoreless innings to collect his first save of the year, while senior 3B Dan Pidgeon (Darien, Conn.) and Steckel came through with RBI singles in the bottom of the eighth to give the home team some insurance runs. 

Jordan improved to 3-3, tossing two innings in relief to earn the win, while Bates junior RHP Anthony Telesca (Holtsville, N.Y.) was saddled with the loss and fell to 3-1.  Lefties Jordan, Robinson, sophomore starter McLane Hill (Marlborough, Conn.) and junior Chris Speer (Westport, Conn.) combined to allow nine hits, one walk, and two earned runs with four strikeouts over nine innings.  Pidgeon finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, while Steckel was 2-for-4 with two RBI.  Junior 1B Brendon Canavan (Carlisle, Mass.) was 2-for-4 with a double offensively for the Bobcats.