After a three game losing streak, the baseball team is back on track, having won five of its last six games. The streak included wins against rival Colby, Southern Maine and UMass-Boston, with the lone loss coming to Trinity. Bowdoin enters this weekend in third place in the NESCAC with three home games against first-place Tufts this weekend.
Over the weekend, Bowdoin denied Colby its first win of the season with three dominating performances over its Maine rival. In three games, Bowdoin scored 44 runs against the Mules, while giving up 11 runs in the weekend.
In the first game, led by a complete game by junior captain Trevor Powers, Bowdoin topped Colby by an 11-5 score. Centerfielder Jared Lemieux '06 continued his hot streak, reaching base in each of his five plate appearances and scoring two runs. Co-captain Ricky Leclerc '06 led the team with three RBIs in the game.
Bowdoin crushed Colby in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday, winning 17-1. Nick Lawler '07 hit two home runs and drove in four runs in the game. In addition to hitting a home run, Leclerc pitched five innings of three-hit ball, yielding no runs.
The second game was equally impressive, as the Bears rolled to a 16-5 win. Leclerc added two more home runs in this game, bringing his total for the day to three. First-year Pat Driscoll allowed four runs in five innings, but held the Colby offense in check as Bowdoin cruised to another victory.
Leclerc emphasized the importance of beating Colby this past weekend. "It's always nice to beat Colby, even though they are not having the best season this year. We definitely didn't want to be the team to give them their first win," he said.
Bowdoin's sole loss of the week was to NESCAC powerhouse Trinity, 11-7. Despite the loss, Bowdoin can feel proud of the way it played against Trinity. After Trinity jumped out to a six-run lead early in the game, Bowdoin battled back, closing the lead to 8-7, before Trinity pulled away for the win. First-year Pat Duchette enjoyed a strong game for Bowdoin, collecting three hits and two RBIs in the game.
The game marked a strong contrast to the other games against Trinity this year, in which Trinity rolled over Bowdoin with a combined score of 19-2 in two games. Bowdoin capped off the strong week with a 10-6 win over UMass-Boston.
The team's rebound after such a tough stretch of teams was impressive, especially for such a young squad.
Junior captain Trevor Powers noted that the team's comfort level and focus has allowed it to rebound easily.
"I believe that the team is made up of a lot of guys who are loose and just enjoy each day for what it is, so for us it's easy for us to bounce back from tough losses because we see the end goal as the most important and to accomplish our goals we need to just keep doing what we are doing," Powers said.
The baseball team has enjoyed this success without the hitting and relief pitching of 2004 First-Team All-NESCAC player McMahon. McMahon, a co-captain and the lone senior on the team, tore his ACL in the final Spring Break game in Florida. He has also suffered injuries to both MCLs. McMahon has served as the team's number-five hitter the past four years and he has been out the past three weeks, making the team's run all the more incredible.
McMahon singled out several first-years for stepping up to fill the void left by his absence. "The freshmen pitchers, namely Ryan Turgeon and Pat Driscoll have been great for us out of the pen. Also, first baseman Pat Duchette has been playing very well, filling in for me," he said.
This weekend, Bowdoin will try to continue its recent run of success as the team plays host to Tufts, which, despite its 12-6 overall record, leads the NESCAC with a 2-0 record this season.
Tufts and Bowdoin are currently tied for sixth in the New England regional rankings. The three game set against the Jumbos begins today at 3:00 p.m. Tomorrow, the teams play a doubleheader with the first pitch scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
The team feels confident that this year's series will be a reversal of recent history against Tufts.
Powers commented on the team's chances this year. "I think the Trinity game on Sunday gave us a good warm up for the competition and we feel as though if we play our game we should win the series (against Tufts)."
After the series against Tufts, Bowdoin will return home to play host to Brandeis and Maine-Farmington during the week.
With the strongest Bowdoin baseball team in years and the recent surprisingly beautiful weather, there's no reason not to enjoy the sun and cheer the team to victory.