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Date: April 9, 2004
Contact: Bill Sodoma

 

Colby suffers another tough NESCAC loss

LEWISTON, Maine -

(courtesy of Bates sports information)

Drew McKenna hit a home run to left field to tie the score, Rob Schuler scored from second on a fielding error by the shortstop to give Bates a lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Mike Kinsman was perfect in the ninth to give the Bobcats a 6-5 win over Colby in a New England Small College Athletic Conference East Division baseball game on Leahey Field on Friday afternoon.

After John O'Neill '04 (Cumberland, R.I.) led off home half of the eighth with a deep fly to left for the first out, McKenna '04 (Middleboro, Mass.) roped a line drive over the fence for his second home run of the season to tie the score, 5-5. Schuler '07 (Hanover, Mass.) followed with a solid single to right center for his second hit of the day.

He advanced to second on a wild pitch, then scored when Owen Miehe '04 (Glen Rock, N.J.) hit a ground ball through the shortstop's legs to give the Bobcats their first lead since the fourth inning.

After allowing two doubles in the first inning, rookie righthander Griffan Finan '07 (Bethesda, Md.) settled down, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters. He improved to 3-0, allowing five runs, seven hits and two walks in eight innings. Kinsman '05 (Yarmouth, Maine) retired the Mules 1-2-3 in the ninth.

McKenna finished the day 2-for-4 with two runs, while Schuler went 2-for-3 with three runs. Adam Taranto '05 (Sudbury, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with three RBI for the Bobcats, who improved to 7-7, 1-3 NESCAC East. Bates is 5-0 on Leahey Field this season.

Colby had a chance to build a two run lead in the top of the eighth when Tyler Hales smacked a two-out triple to center field. After Eric Roy worked a walk, Hales was nailed on a double steal attempt when Bobcat shortstop Nate Maxwell '04 (Newport, Vt.) cut off Finan's pickoff throw and fired home to Matt Peterson '04 (Marblehead, Mass.) who applied the tag to end the inning.

B.L. Lippert led the Mules with a two-run single in the fifth to give Colby a 4-3 lead. Vincent Domestico and Travis Agustin added RBI hits for Colby, which fell to 3-15, 0-4. The Mules have lost all four NESCAC games by a total of five runs.

Bates and Colby will face each other again on Saturday, capping the season series with a doubleheader in Waterville starting at noon.