The baseball team dropped its first home series of the year at Pickard Field to Colby, winning the second game but losing the first and third. On Wednesday, the team dropped a close non-conference game to Husson, 6-5. The three losses sink Bowdoin to 13-9-1 on the year and 4-5 in NESCAC play.
Last Friday afternoon, Bowdoin stepped onto Pickard Field for the first time this season to take on the Mules.
Contributing two hits and scoring a run, Peter Cimini ’16 led the charge in the matchup against the Mules on Friday. However, stifled by the pitching performance of Colby’s Scott Goldberg, Bowdoin gathered just six hits and two runs on the day.
“[Goldberg] was very effective” said Sam Canales ’15, “[He] was keeping us off balance and hitting his spots.”
“He hit the outside corner a lot and was probably an inch or so off the plate,” noted Stephen Girolamo ’16. “It’s tough, as a hitter, to go up there and tell yourself to swing at that first pitch off the plate because obviously you’re going up there looking for a pitch you can drive, that you can get an extra base hit on.”
The Polar Bears stayed close through three innings, but a five-run third inning opened up a lead for Colby and created an insurmountable deficit for Bowdoin, who eventually lost 8-2.
The next day, the Polar Bears hosted a double header against Colby.
In the early game, Bowdoin again struggled to produce runs in the early going, partially due to Colby’s great defense.
“They put together a really solid effort on the mound and in the field,” said Sam Herzig ’14. “They made some amazing plays, and their shortstop did a great job making plays the whole series.”
Late in the game, the Polar Bears were sparked by two great plays in the field and one at the plate, which led them to the comeback win.
“Aaron Rosen [’15] had a big play in the field that saved a run at second base. He kept the ball from going into the outfield and actually made an out instead. Sam Canales had a great play on a bunt coming in from third base. Both of those defensive plays were huge and saved runs,” said Herzig.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Chad Martin ’16 capitalized on a hanging breaking ball and crushed his third homerun of the year.
“Pete and [Cole DiRoberto ’15] did a good job of getting on, and then with Chad, I mean, the kid can hit a homerun at any point in the game, so its nice to have him in the lineup,” said Canales.
In the afternoon, DiRoberto and captain John Lefeber ’14 led Bowdoin’s offense with two hits apiece. While Lefeber drove in two runs himself and Jay Loughlin ’14 held the Mules to just two hits in five innings of work on the mound, Colby managed to scrape across four runs, stealing the rubber match from the Polar Bears.
“We had the bases loaded in the first and second inning and when you have the opportunity to open up a game like that, especially early on, you have to do it,” said Girolamo. “Because if you don’t take advantage of it in the beginning of the game, who knows what’s going to happen.”
In their game agains Husson on Wednesday, the Bears took an early 4-0 lead. However, a sixth inning four run surge helped Husson take the lead and hold on for a 6-5 win.
Bowdoin was led by Rosen, Martin and DiRoberto, who each contributed multi-hit games in the effort.
The Polar Bears, fourth in their division at 4-5, will look to move past the defeat when they play at the University of Southern Maine at 3:30 p.m. today.
“Once you play a game, especially a close one like that, the worst thing you can do is dwell on the loss,” said Girolamo.