The Bard College baseball team completed its trip to Maine against the Bates Bobcats at Leahey Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Raptors tied up Game 1 in the fifth inning, but fell via walk-off fashion, 2-3, in eight innings before the Bobcats completed the sweep, 20-7, in Game 2 on Saturday.
Bryant Elliott started on the mound for the Raptors, recording his first career complete game. He toughed it out through seven-plus innings, allowing just two runs despite giving up 11 hits. Seven key strikeouts got Elliott out of jams and allowed Bard to force extras in Game 1. With the Raptors down two,
Andrew Plenn led off the fifth with a hit by pitch, and
Jeremy Hall singled to right field to set up Bard. Hall induced an error from the Bates catcher, stealing second and allowing Plenn to score.
Xavier Webb had the game-tying hit immediately after, driving in Hall. Unfortunately, after three 1-2-3 innings, the Raptors remained at two runs, while Bates found its timing against Elliott, leading off the bottom of the eighth with three straight hits to walk it off.
In Game 2, Bard threatened to take the final game, scoring two runs in the first inning on RBIs from
Kyle Palleschi and
Jimmy Famularo.
Charlie Lehr started the game and retired Bates' batters in order, which was a picture-perfect beginning to the game for Bard. However, the Raptors did not score in the next three innings despite getting five runners on the base paths in that period. Lehr also did not have the same command he showed in the opening frame, forcing a move to the bullpen, where
Aidan Kiefer served as long relief, pitching the second and third innings while striking out a batter. The Bobcats got a homer in the third inning to get some breathing room, and they never looked back.
Jamie Fryer doubled to the gap in left center in the fifth inning, plating Palleschi to make it 3-8. Bates rallied with six more runs in the fifth and the sixth, increasing its lead.
Jack Burcell and
Emmett O'Brien had RBI doubles in the seventh, but it was not enough.
Henry Hubner pitched an inning, striking out one.
Dylan Conte recorded two outs, one via the strikeout.
Tom Maxwell and
Orlando Shin both made appearances, with Maxwell pitching an inning and Shin needing just two pitches to record the final out of the game. Bard held Gibby Sullivan, the Bobcats' OPS leader, to a 1-for-6 performance on the day.
The Raptors will face the Williams Ephs on Tuesday with a 4 p.m. start at Cole Field in Williamstown, MA.
