Baseball: Bates sweeps UMF

The Bates College baseball team won convincingly in both games of a non-conference doubleheader against the University of Maine at Farmington on Tuesday, winning 12-2 in Game 1 and 9-0 in Game 2.

Game 1 Recap

Bates banged out 13 hits and rode effective pitching to win Game 1. The Bobcats struck right away with four runs in the first inning, leading off the inning with three straight hits: singles by sophomore Ryan Sonberg (Windsor, Conn.) and first-year Griff Tewksbury (Concord, N.H.), followed by senior Chris Burke's (Andover, Mass.) RBI double to right. Senior Gordy Webb's (Hampden, Maine) groundout scored Tewksbury, before senior Jake Simon (Waterford, Conn.) walked and stole second base. Junior Mike Ciummei (Acton, Mass.) then collected the first two of his six RBIs on the day, singling to center field to score Burke and Simon.

Sophomore lefthander Kevin McGregor (Randolph, N.J.) started the game for Bates and went four innings, allowing just one run to improve to 2-0 on the season. First-year Brad Reynolds (Louisville, Colo.) allowed one unearned run in two innings of relief, and senior Paul Chiampa (Pembroke, Mass.) made his first relief appearance of the season, throwing a shutout seventh inning.

Bates made it 5-0 in the second in Tewksbury's solo home run, the first of his college career, belted high in the air and dropping over the fence in straightaway right field.

The Bobcats got two more runs in the third. Webb led off with a single, and Ciummei reached on a dropped fly ball, scoring Webb. First-year Steve Burke's (Bedford, N.H.) single through the right side moved Ciummei to third, and senior Pat Murphy's (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) fly ball brought Ciumemi home.

Senior Jake Simon (Waterford, Conn.) led off the fifth inning with a double, and he later scored on Ciummei's sacrifice fly to left.

Bates loaded the bases to start a four-run sixth inning, with sophomore Ryan Sonberg (Windsor, Conn.) leading off with a single and a pair of defensive substitions, senior Luke Wamboldt (Sunderland, Mass.) and sophomore Jeff Clausen (Southold, N.Y.), reaching on a single and a walk, respectively. Sonberg and Wamboldt both scored as first-year Kevin Davis (Andover, Mass.) reached on another two-base error by the Beavers. Webb's fly to center scored Clausen, and Davis came home on the Beavers' second error of the inning.

Sophomore righthander Dale Winchenbach (Waldoboro, Maine) started the game for UMF and dropped to 0-5 with the loss. going three innings and allowing seven runs, six earned.

Game 2 Recap

The Bobcats again struck for four runs in the bottom of the first inning of Game 2, giving first-year starting pitcher Dean Bonneau (Amherst, Mass.) a nice lead early on. The righthander had the finest outing of his young collegiate career, retiring the first 11 batters he faced and earning the win with four shutout innings on just the one hit, a single to center field by UMF senior Josh Garneau (South Portland, Maine).

Sonberg led off the first with a single to center field, then stole second base and moved to third on Tewksbury's groundout and scored on Chris Burke's sacrifice fly to center field. Five straight Bobcats then reached base: a walk by senior Noah Lynd (Meriden, N.H.), infield singles by Webb and senior Rich Velotta (Fairfield, Conn.), Ciummei's two-run single up the middle, and a walk issued to Davis. Velotta scored on a passed ball to give Bates a 4-0 lead.

Ciummei doubled into the gap in left center in the third inning to score Lynd, who had led off the inning with a walk.

The Bobcats extended their lead from 5-0 to 9-0 in the fourth inning, which featured a two-run home run inside the left-field foul pole by Webb, his second homer of the season.

Bates junior Demetrios Gatzogiannis (Wells, Maine) came on to start the fifth inning and went two shutout innings with four strikeouts. First-year A.J. DeBenedictis (Norwell, Mass.) then made his first appearance of the season, striking out two batters in a perfect seventh inning.

Ben Pearson was charged with the loss in Game 2, dropping to 0-3.

Garneau was 4-for-7 on the day for Farmington, while junior Brian Jenkins (Gorham, Maine) had two hits.

Bates plays another non-conference doubleheader tomorrow, at Anna Maria College in Paxton, Mass., starting at 2 p.m. The Beavers play at Husson on Friday at 2 p.m. in the NEAC East playoffs.

Bates 12, Me.-Farmington 2 (Apr 26, 2011 at Lewiston, Maine) (Game 1)
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Me.-Farmington...... 000 110 0 - 2 6 3 (5-23)
Bates............... 412 014 X - 12 13 2 (12-14)
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Pitchers: Me.-Farmington - Dale Winchenbach; Joe Messerman(4) and Jack MacVane. Bates -
Kevin McGregor; Brad Reynolds(5); Paul Chiampa(7) and Jake Simon.
Win-Kevin McGregor(2-0) Loss-Dale Winchenbach(0-5) T-1:45 A-39
HR UMF - Josh Garneau (1).
HR BAT - Griff Tewksbury (1).
Weather: 55, over

Bates 9, Me.-Farmington 0 (Apr 26, 2011 at Lewiston, Maine) (Game 2)
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Me.-Farmington...... 000 000 0 - 0 2 1 (5-25)
Bates............... 401 400 X - 9 9 0 (13-14)
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Pitchers: Me.-Farmington - Ben Pearson; Will Griffiths(4); Matt Levine(5) and Jack MacVane;
Chris Whitney. Bates - Dean Bonneau; Dmtrios Gatzogiannis(5); A.J. DeBenedictis(7) and
Gordy Webb.
Win-Dean Bonneau(2-1) Loss-Ben Pearson(0-3) T-1:52 A-33
HR BAT - Gordy Webb (2).
Weather: 54 cloudy