SALEM, Mass. -- Playing for the first time in more than a month, the Bates baseball team split a doubleheader with Salem State on Saturday, dropping game one 4-1 and bouncing back to win game two 3-0.
Bates (3-4) did not allow an earned run over the course of 13 innings pitched against the Vikings (8-6) in the twin bill split. The Bobcats visit Endicott Sunday for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.
Game One: Salem State 4, Bates 1 (7 innings)
Steve Leavitt (1-1) pitched a complete game for the Vikings in game one, holding Bates to one unearned run on five hits. He walked one and struck out six in the 4-1 win for Salem State.
Senior captain Ryan McCarthy (Plaistow, N.H.) scored the lone run for Bates. He reached on an error to start the game. Then he advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a passed ball.
One out later senior captain Brendan Fox (West Hartford, Conn.) drove in McCarthy with a sacrifice fly to give the Bobcats an early 1-0 lead.
But the Vikings took advantage of four Bobcat errors to score four unearned runs off junior Connor Speed (San Diego, Calif.) in the bottom of the first.
They loaded the bases with one out thanks to an error and back-to-back hit batsmen.
Andrew Deloury reached on the second Bates error of the inning and Salem State tied the game at one. Then Nick Day hit a grounder to third, the Bobcats got the force at third base but the throw to first got away. A run scored on the play to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead.
Salem State added two more runs when Brendan Greene singled to right, driving in a pair to make the score 4-1. He advanced to second on the fourth Bobcat error of the inning but Speed was able to get out of the frame with no further damage after that.
Speed settled down and shut out the Vikings for his final two innings of work. Sophomore Justin Foley (Lynnfield, Mass.) impressed out of the bullpen, tossing three scoreless innings. He did not allow a hit, walked one and struck out one.
Perhaps the Bobcats' best scoring opportunity after the first inning came in the top of the third. With one away, first-year Jack Arend (Newfields, N.H.) singled. McCarthy followed with a single of his own and first-year Kyle Carter (Plantation, Fla.) drew a walk to load the bases. But the next two hitters struck out and flew out to end the threat.
The Bobcats threatened again in the fifth. Junior Jake Shapiro (Sandy, Utah) singled to start the frame. Arend followed with his second single of the game. But a fielder's choice and a strike-him-out, throw-him-out double play ended the inning with no runs crossing the plate.
Despite losing 4-1, Bates outhit Salem State 5-4 in game one. Arend went 2-2 and McCarthy finished 1-3 with a run scored. Senior Brendon Canavan (Carlisle, Mass.) and Shapiro both went 1-3 as well. Fox notched the lone run batted in and Carter drew the only walk. Speed (0-2) took the loss on the mound despite not allowing an earned run. Five Bobcat errors proved to be the difference.
Game Two: Bates 3, Salem State 0 (7 innings)
Three Bates pitchers combined to shutout the Vikings and the Bobcats scored three times in the seventh inning on only one hit to secure a 3-0 victory in game two of Saturday's doubleheader.
Junior Connor Russell (Cumberland, Maine), sophomore Alex Simon (Windsor, Conn.) and senior Matt Doyle (Northborough, Mass.) teamed up to hold the Vikings to no runs on four hits, walking four and striking out four. Doyle (1-0) pitched the final inning and two thirds to earn his first collegiate victory.
Neither team scored for the first six innings. In the top of the seventh, Bates loaded the bases with nobody out. Fox drew a walk, Canavan got hit by a pitch and senior John Dinucci (West Hartford, Conn.) drew a walk as well.
One out later, a wild pitch scored Fox to put Bates up 1-0. Arend drove in Canavan with a sacrifice fly and junior Asher MacDonald (Hillsborough, N.C.) drove in Dinucci with Bates' first and only hit of the game, a single to left.
The Bobcats spoiled a strong outing from Salem State's Stephen Keskindis (0-3). He did not allow a hit through six plus innings, but all three runs in the seventh got charged to him. He walked four, including two in the seventh, and struck out six on the afternoon.
Reliever Tim Woods surrendered Bates' only hit and allowed all three runners he inherited to score.
Russell was left with a no-decision but pitched very well for Bates. He tossed five innings, allowing no runs on three hits, walking three and striking out three.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Vikings put runners at second and third with only one out. But Russell got Deloury to line out to short and Joe White to ground out to second, ending the threat.
Simon entered in the sixth and retired the first batter he faced. But the next two reached on a hit batsman and a walk respectively. So head coach Jon Martin called upon Doyle and the southpaw picked off a runner and stuck out a batter to end the frame.
After Bates picked up their three runs in the top of the seventh, Doyle retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win.