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Date: April 23, 2005
Contact: Bill Sodoma

 

Bates hands Colby tough loss in baseball

LEWISTON, Maine --- Pinch runner Casey McCormack '08 (Keene, N.H.) scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Bates College baseball team to a 4-3 victory over NESCAC rival Colby on Saturday.

After Colby tied the ballgame in the top of the seventh, Erik Hood '08 (Berlin, N.H.) reached second base on an error and was lifted for pinch runner McCormack. Bates co-captain and cleanup hitter Charlie Engasser '05 (Chanhassen, Minn.) was subsequently walked and first-year Brian Buckley (Andover, Mass.) moved both runners over with a sacrifice bunt. Colby starter Tyler Hales worked batter Tyler Paul '06 (Great Falls, Mont.) to a 3-1 count before firing ball four off the backstop, scoring McCormack.

Bates' Mike Kinsman '05 (Yarmouth, Maine) worked seven strong innings, allowing only one earned run and striking out six to earn his fourth victory of the season. Kinsman worked out of several jams, stranding runners in scoring position in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings.

Bates (7-10) opened up the scoring in the third when Alex Maulucci '08 (Avon, Conn.) and Rob Schuler '07 (Hanover, Mass.) singled to lead off the inning. Senior co-captain Adam Taranto '05 (Sudbury, Mass.) followed with a solid single up the middle, scoring Maulucci.

The Bobcats pushed another run across in the fourth after Engasser walked to lead off the inning. After Engasser advanced all the way to third on an errant pickoff attempt, Paul scored him with a sacrifice fly to center field.

Maulucci scored again in the sixth when he reached first base on a fielder's choice and advanced to third on a groundout and an error. With two outs, Bates centerfielder Kyohei Yamada '05 (Kamatsu, Japan) hit a slow roller to third that Colby third baseman Andy Carr had no play on.

Together, Carr and Colby right fielder Nick Spillane accounted for six of Colby's seven hits off Kinsman. Carr led Colby's offense, going 3 for 3 with two doubles and two RBI. Carr's double in the sixth gave Colby its first runs of the game, plating Hales and Spillane.

The game was played in a persistent drizzle, and the second game of the scheduled doubleheader was postponed and moved to May 4 in Waterville.