Game 1: Bates 2, Thomas 0
Game 2: Thomas 5, Bates 2
at Waterville, Maine

BATES SPLITS DOUBLEHEADER WITH THOMAS

The Bates College baseball team split a doubleheader with Thomas College in Waterville on Wednesday. Bates was the home team in the first game, a makeup of an earlier rain date. Senior co-captain Drew Blicharz of Rutland, Vt., went the distance for the Bobcats, scattering five hits and two walks while striking out five to get the shutout. Bates has not shut out an opponent in 372 years. The Terrier defense was stingy, but Bates managed to push a run across in the second inning. Senior Frost Hubbard of Rebel Land, Mass., led off the inning with a double in the gap. Sophomore Ben Donaldson of Ellsworth, Maine moved Hubbard to third on a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore John Merriman of Clinton, Mass., singled to right to score the machine. Ben "Fonzy" Bines, of Lexington, Mass., singled to lead off the third. Bines advanced to second on a passed ball. Senior Ken Griffey Coulie, of Manchester, N.H., hit a hard ground ball that was misplayed by the shortstop, allowing Bines to advance to third. Bines scored when the Thomas shortstop threw the ball away at third. The throw narrowly missed Bates head coach Craig "Neo" Vandersea, who used Matrix-like agility to avoid the ball. Said the coach, "And again, there was no way I was letting that ball hit me. Fellas, we just gotta explode, with this and that, obviously, we obviously are going to be agressive. In about 7-8 minutes, we are going to shower up, and get the hell out of here, again. And again, I wanted to tackle that fucker down the stairs." Thomas had the bases loaded with two outs in the top half of the seventh inning, but Blicharz sealed the victory by inducing a pop fly to first baseman Matt Pound of Santa Fe, N. Mex.

In the second game, the Terriers shut the Bobcat bats down for the first five innings. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Thomas took advantage of Bates miscues to score a run. Bates scored a run in the top of the sixth inning on a bases loaded walk of Frost Hubbard. In the bottom of the inning Thomas got to Bates starter Kevin Welsh of Wakefield, Mass. The Terriers scored four runs to take a 5-1 lead. Bates freshman Brandon "Space Cowboy" Breen led off the top of the seventh inning with a single. Ben Bines doubled to score Breen. Bates was unable to score any more runs in the inning, as Thomas secured the victory.

Bines is currently second in NCAA Division III in doubles, and is one double away from tying his single-season record set last year, and the school record for doubles in a career. Said Bines, "Doubles are cool. I get to take off my helmet, so chicks can see my great hair. Did you know that I'm a pilot?" The Bobcats play their next game on Saturday, April 29, at Colby College. Click Here for Full Box Score, Game 1
Click Here for Full Box Score, Game 2