With Casco Bay serving as its backdrop, Bates’ bullpen stemmed the scoring tide to give the Bobcats a 13-7 win in the seven-inning opener. Bowdoin’s Jay Loughlin responded by leading a quartet of seniors that quieted Bates’ bats for the nine-inning nightcap, 6-2, at Southern Maine Community College.

Bates cleanup hitter Kevin Davis had the loudest bat, finishing the day 5-for-8 with a grand slam, three doubles, three runs scored and eight runs batted in, including seven RBIs in Bates’ victory. Griff Tewksbury reached base four times with a double, three RBIs and four runs scored. Former Lewiston star Mekae Hyde went 2-for-6 with a pair of runs scored. Steve Burke went 3-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in Game 2.

Bowdoin’s Erik Jacobsen reached base six times, including three singles and an inside-the-park home run. Cole DiRoberto and Peter Cimini each hit one out.

The series was moved to SMCC because neither team’s field is playable.Bates (8-9, 2-2 in NESCAC) won the first game of the series, 9-1, on Friday, ending a five-game losing streak to the Polar Bears (10-6-1, 2-3).

“It’s always nice to beat Bowdoin, especially since we got swept last year. They’ve kind of had the upper-hand on us the last few years,” Davis said.

The Bobcats picked up where they left off Friday by jumping out to a quick lead with three in the first inning, highlighted by back-to-back RBI doubles by Tewskbury and Davis that seemed to be misjudged by the left fielder.

Both teams looked rusty in the field, especially in Game 1. A cloudless sky, swirling winds and a bumpy field still trying to recover from the winter didn’t help.

“They have to make the plays in those conditions,” Bowdoin coach Mike Connolly said. “Trust me, both teams, were so happy to be outside in cold weather, considering when we’ve gotten back from our trips (through the South to start the season), we’ve had to go inside. It’s a baseball game between two good teams and both teams and both sets of coaches expect the players to make those plays. The team that makes more of them is going to win the game.”

The Bobcats led 4-1 in the third when Jacobsen ripped a drive to deep left off Bates starter Chris Fusco. Burke retreated and never broke stride before crashing through the mesh outfield fence to try to catch it. The ball tipped off his glove and back in play, but Jacobsen was able to circle the bases with Chad Martin scoring ahead of him to pull Bowdoin within a run.

Sam Berry’s sacrifice fly got one of those runs back for Bates in the bottom of the frame, but Bowdoin took its only lead of the game with four in the fourth.

DiRoberto led off the inning with his homer to left. Rosen tied it with a two-run double and Martin chased Fusco with an RBI single.

Rob DiFranco, a sidearming sophomore righty, came on and closed the gate by striking out Cimini on three pitches. He tossed 2.1 innings of shutout relief, allowing two hits and fanning two to pick up the victory. Sam Warren finished it off with a scoreless ninth.

“I feel really good about our depth, and our guys understand that we’re going to use bullpen guys,” Bates coach Mike Leonard said. “Robbie’s gotten the ball in big spots since his first day on campus last year and he’s going to continue to get the ball in those spots.”

“I was just trying to attack them on the inner part of the strike zone, trying to reduce contact and not trying to do too much,” DiFranco said. “We look at our staff as a unit. We’re just trying to throw up zeroes. Everyone knows their role at this point.”

Bates regained the lead with three in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by Davis’ two-run double. Davis broke it open in the fifth by launching a 1-2 pitch over the fence in left-center.

“Wth two strikes, I was honestly just trying to hit a ground ball up the middle and I squared it up,” Davis said. “That was definitely not something I was trying to do there.”

Game 2 started out as a pitcher’s duel between Loughlin (5 IP, 2H, 0R, 6K, 1BB) and Will Levangie (5IP, 5H, 1R, 6K, 2BB).

Kyle LeBlanc’s two-out RBI double in the second gave Loughlin a 1-0 led to protect. The right-hander cooled off the Bobcats by commanding his fastball and changing speeds.

“They’re pretty lefty-heavy lineup, so I felt like if I could establish the change-up early on I’d have success. I like to throw it to lefties because it kind of fades way from them,” said Loughlin, who missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October, 2012. “But the real key was fastball command and not walking too many guys.”

Bowdoin found more success against Bates’ bullpen in Game 2 and found it quickly. Cimini’s two-run homer hugged the left field line and sparked a five-run sixth against three Bobcat relievers.

Sam Maliska and Anthony Telesca kept Bates in it with 3.2 innings of hitless relief, and the Bobcats finally got to Bowdoin’s bullpen in the ninth when an error and Davis’ RBI double made it 6-2.

With one out, Sam Herzig replaced Ryan Lefeber on the mound and got a strikeout for the second out. An errant throw and walk loaded the bases and brought Hyde to the plate representing the tying run. Herzig struck him out swinging to end the game.

“We didn’t grind enough at-bats together,” said Leonard, whose team hit into three double plays in the game. “They made some plays and we weren’t able to string enough good things together in a row to get runs until the end there.”

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