Washington and Lee, Bates 10
at Lexington, Va.

BATES BASEBALL DROPS SEASON OPENER TO W&L IN EXTRA INNINGS

LEXINGTON, Va. -- The Bates College baseball team lost their season opener in dramatic fashion today, 11-10, in 10 innings to host Washington and Lee.

The Bobcats fell behind early, 8-2 after four innings. Timely hitting produced crooked numbers in the fifth through seventh innings, and Bates led, 10-8, after eight complete innings. The Generals rallied against junior Kevin Walsh (Wakefield, Mass.), who came on in relief of senior co-captain Drew Blicharz (Rutland, Vt.) in the seventh inning. W&L scored twice in the bottom of the ninth and once in the 10 to spoil Craig Vandersea's head coaching debut.

Sophomore John Merriman (Clinton, Mass.), back from a season-ending injury a year ago, had three hits and a couple of runs scored for the Bobcats, while senior CF Jason Coulie (Manchester, N.H.) went three for five with three stolen bases. Sophomore DH Justin Pats (Baldwin, Md.) had a pair of doubles in his first career start, while junior RF Ben Bines (Lexington, Mass.) had a double, a triple and three runs scored. Blicharz allowed four earned runs in 6.2 innings of work. Click Here For Full Box Score