Bowdoin squeaks past Bates in baseball, 5-4
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Brian Buckley ’08 |
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Denis Hogan ’08 |
LEWISTON, Maine — The Bowdoin College baseball team got an RBI single from K.J. Kozens in the top of the ninth to score Ian Merry with the eventual game-winning run as the Polar Bears topped Bates College 5-4 Sunday at Leahey Field.
Bates would play another nine-inning game at home against Husson on Sunday, a 6-5 victory.
Bowdoin (16-12, 8-3 NESCAC) sealed its second-consecutive bid to the NESCAC Championship with the victory. With just one conference game remaining, the Polar Bears are locked in as the number two seed in the Eastern Division as they would lose any tiebreaker to first-place Tufts (9-2) and hold the decisive tiebreak over third-place Trinity (8-4). Bowdoin will be making their third NESCAC Tournament appearance overall.
Bates took an early lead with a run off Bowdoin starter Luke Potter (Lewiston, Maine) in the first inning, as junior Brian Buckley’s (Andover, Mass.) single up the middle scored junior Denis Hogan (Franklin, Mass.), who had led off the inning with a single.
The Polar Bears replied in the top of the second, scoring on a Kozens single that brought home John Lawrie (Walpole, Mass.) to tie the contest. Bowdoin scored twice in the fifth as Marc Dallaire slapped an RBI single and later came home on a passed ball to give the Polar Bears a 3-1 lead.
Bates tied the game again with a pair of unearned runs in the seventh by first-year Tom Beaton (West Newbury, Mass.) and junior Alex Egelson (Fairfield, Conn.).
The teams traded runs in the eighth inning, sending the game into the ninth tied at 4-4. Bowdoin senior Jon Koperniak (Adams, Mass.) singled and scored on Lawrie’s groundout. Bates’ Buckley singled in the eighth and later came home on Beaton’s RBI groundout.
Mike Buckley (Manchester, Maine) led off the ninth with a single and Merry (Salem, Mass.) entered the game to pinch-run. Merry stole second and came home on Kozens’ base hit to right-center. Tyler Turgeon (Auburn, Maine; 2-4), who came in to finish the eighth for Bowdoin, tossed a perfect ninth inning to earn his second victory of the season. Junior Ralph Vitti (Winchester, Mass.) took the loss in relief for Bates, dropping to 0-3.