LEWISTON — It was the kind of baseball game that gave Bates College coach Jon Martin an opportunity to send substitute hitters and pitchers into the game to see some action.

The Bobcats had constructed a sturdy seven-run lead by the fourth inning and eventually walked away with a 10-1 victory over the University of Maine at Farmington at Leahey Field on Thursday afternoon.

“We came out, ready to go, gave some other guys some opportunities today,” Martin said. “Our everyday starters weren’t really in the lineup fort the most part, but we’ve got depth and I trusted those guys to go out and get the job done — and they did a good job.

“I mean a Thursday game. We got Colby (College) this weekend and so I kind of wanted to use this as a tune-up and obviously get some guys in that need a couple of at-bats or get a couple of innings on the field, whatever it was. So a good team effort today.”

Martin, though, added that the Beavers are a well-coached team.

“Chris (Bessey) does a good job, you know,” Martin said. “They’ve got a lot of guys who can play a lot of different positions, and they showed that today. I wish them luck in their conference coming up and at the end in the conference tournament — so they are not a bad ball club.”

The Bobcats used seven pitchers throughout the game, with Brendan Smith earning the win. The Beavers used five hurlers, with starter Cole Lockhart being charged with the loss.

Bates hitting spree culminated in an 18-hit attack that set the tone of the entire game. UMF struggled offensively, but still managed to collect eight hits against the Bobcats’ battery of pitchers.

Bobcats left fielder Pat Beaton, designated hitter Dan Trulli and second baseman Andrew Chi each had three hits. Right fielder Will Sylvia drove in three runs and Beaton doubled twice and knocked in a run.

UMF mustered one run in the seventh inning when third baseman Chase Malloy (two hits) got on with a single, stole second base and scored when outfielder Hunter LaBossiere slapped an RBI single.

“We battled; we are young,” Bessey said. “We’ve got four freshmen in the hitting lineup and then we had freshmen coming out on the mound. So (we’re) inexperienced and young, so Bates is a very good team from the NESCACs.

“We knew it was going to be a tough test. We had a couple of quick innings.”

In the Bates’ three-run first inning, Christian Beal singled and scored on Beaton’s double. Beaton scored when Trulli doubled. The parade across the plate continued after Trulli came across with a run when Antonio Jareno doubled to give the Bobcats a 3-0 lead.

The Bobcats put together another three-run outburst in the seventh inning, using three hits, a pair of walks and a two-run single by Sylvia. Bates chipped in two more runs in the eighth to put the game well out of reach.

 

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