The baseball team returned from Florida with a record of 8-3-1, starting its trip an early hot streak to win their first five games. Unfortunately, the Polar Bears cooled off by the end, finishing with three wins, three losses and a tie in their final six games.
Bowdoin opened its season by sweeping a doubleheader against Roger Williams. The Polar Bears won the first game 7-3 behind the bat of Peter Cimini ’16, who went 2-2 with a triple, double and walk. Erik Jacobsen ’15 pitched a complete game.
Bowdoin won the second game 6-2 behind the pitching of sophomore Harry Ridge, who also threw a complete game, while allowing only two runs and five hits. Cimini went 2-4 with two doubles.
The Polar Bears swept Colby-Sawyer in their next doubleheader. In the first game their bats were hot, as the team won 12-0. Sophomore Chad Martin hit a three-run homer in the second inning. Jacobsen, Duncan Taylor ’14, Kyle LeBlanc ’14 and Sam Canales ’15 each had two hits, and senior Jay Loughlin earned the win by throwing five innings, allowing one hit and fanning seven.
Bowdoin continued its offensive streak in the second game, beating Colby Sawyer 9-0. Junior Cole DiRoberto went 2-3. Canales, Martin and Cimini had two hits apiece and Michael Staes ’16 was the winning pitcher.
Two days later, the Polar Bears battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to beat New Jersey City University by a score of 15-8. The Bears scored three runs in the third inning and seven in the fourth to spark the comeback. Martin went 3-4 and had five RBIs. Bjorn Hansen ’17 recorded his first collegiate win on the mound, pitching five and a third innings and surrendering only two earned runs.
Bowdoin picked up its first loss the next day against Western New England (WNE), falling 2-1. Tom Wells ’15 scored the Polar Bears’ only run on a solo homer.
The Polar Bears bounced back in the next game against WNE, 2-1 with a save from David Zabinsky ’15 and a 2-3, one RBI effort from Canales.
Two days later, Bowdoin suffered its second loss of the season, falling 2-1 against Hamilton. Staes pitched six innings and had five strikeouts.
Bowdoin came back two days later and split a doubleheader against Keene State. The Polar Bears opened with a 7-4 win but lost the next game by a score of 13-9.
In the final matchup in Florida, Bowdoin beat Rutgers-Camden 7-5 in the first game but settled the second game in a 6-6 tie that spanned eight innings.
“[Head Coach Mike Connolly] likes to refer to us as relentless, and he’s right,” said Martin. “We’re all competitors and teams we play aren’t going to get off easy if they make mistakes against us.”
“Toward the end of the trip, everyone was really locked in, and in our last game, which we tied, Coach had to literally force us off the field because if we didn’t stop playing we would have missed our flight,” Martin added.
The Polar Bears said they were pleased with their overall performance in Florida.
“Heading into NESCAC play we feel confident about where we are,” said Jacobsen. “We will be a very tough team to play against, and we should get stronger as the season moves forward with key contributors coming back.”
“[The team] has made a definitive step forward offensively and defensively,” said Connolly. “Coming back from Florida, we are in a great place.”
Martin was also named NESCAC Player of the Week on March 24. In Florida, he batted .457 and had 21 hits and 14 RBI. He had a slugging percentage of .717.
Bowdoin plays a three-game series at Trinity this weekend.