Softball completes sweep of Colby, 5-2
April 8, 2009

Val Beckwith '09 had an RBI in Bates' four-run fourth inning.
WATERVILLE, Maine -- Bates College took advantage of three Colby College errors in the fourth inning to score four runs on the way to a 5-2 victory in New England Small College Athletic Conference East Division softball Wednesday at Crafts Field. The Bobcats completed a three-game sweep of the rival Mules with the win.

The Bobcats improve to 6-10 overall and 3-3 in NESCAC East play, while the Mules fall to 11-4 overall and 0-3 in the league.

It is the first time Bates has swept Colby in a three-game season series and the first time in any season series since 2001, when the teams only faced off in a doubleheader.

First-year Monica Berube (Plaistow, N.H.) had a solo homer to lead off the third inning for Bates, the first round-tripper of her college career.

The Bobcats then made it 5-0 with four runs in the fourth inning. First-year Leah Maciejewski (Tewksbury, Mass.) had an RBI single and senior Val Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.) had an RBI groundout. Bates scored the other two runs in the inning on Colby errors.

Colby got two runs in the sixth inning on RBI singles from Alyssa Lepore and Alex Essman.

First-year Kristen Finn (Winthrop, Mass.) had three strikeouts in a complete-game victory for the Bobcats. It is Finn's third straight win, her third in four days and her second over Colby, raising her record to 3-5 on the year.

Bates will host Bowdoin on Friday at 4:30 p.m. to start a three-game, home-and-home series with the Polar Bears.

BOX SCORE: Bates 5, Colby 2