Lewiston Times

Sophomore Brandon Biggane homered and drove in four runs but the host MIT Engineers scored seven runs in the fourth inning on their way to a 15-9 victory over the Bates baseball team Friday afternoon. 

Bates (7-3) grabbed a couple of leads early in the contest against the Engineers (4-5) but could not hold onto them. 

The Bobcats got things going with a pair of runs in the top of the first. Junior Jack Brennan (West Hartford, Conn.) led off the game with a single to left. He promptly stole second base and junior Christopher Cimino (Scarborough, Maine) singled him to third. Cimino stole second and Biggane (Rensselaer, N.Y.) picked up his first RBI of the afternoon with a sacrifice fly to right, plating Brennan. Cimino advanced to third on the play and scored when senior captain Tyler Attal (Los Angeles) delivered a sacrifice fly to right.

But as they did all day, MIT had the answer right away. Zev Moore singled to lead off the bottom of the first against Bates starter junior Luke Linnehan (Hingham, Mass.) and one out later Teddy Schoenfeld smacked a two-run homer to tie the game at two.

Neither team scored in the second inning before the Bobcats chased MIT starter Chase Rubin from the game with four runs in the top of the third. 

With one away, Brennan reached on an error and Cimino singled through the right side. The Bobcats pulled off a double steal, but it didn't matter thanks to Biggane's three-run home run, his second long ball of the season. 

Attal followed with a solo blast, his second home run of the season, and Bates led 6-2.

Unfortunately for the visitors, the bottom of the fourth inning proved to be their undoing, as the Engineers scored seven runs to take the lead for good.

Schoenfeld doubled to start the frame and Graham Cartwright reached on an infield single. Then Jake Sonandres cleared the bases with a three-run home run, cutting the Bates lead to 6-5.

Two outs later, Kennan Gumbs kept things going with a single to left. Back-to-back walks meant the end of the day for Linnehan (2-2) and rookie right-hander Max Dio (Wellfleet, Mass.) entered the game, facing bases loaded and two outs. 

Kyle Sonandres came up with the big hit for MIT, sneaking a double down the right field line, scoring all three runners and giving MIT an 8-6 lead. A pair of Bates errors allowed Sonandres to score, and the Engineers had a three-run edge.

A single, a walk, a balk, a wild pitch, and another single meant two more runs for MIT in the sixth, and the Engineers ran away from Bates with four in the seventh, two scoring on another Kyle Sonandres double and two more scoring on a Cartwright home run.

Down 15-6, the Bobcats did plate three runs in the eighth inning. With one out, senior Henry Jamieson (St. Simons Island, Ga.) drew a walk. Junior Dylan Azcarate (Tiburon, Calif.) walked as well and Bates pulled off a double steal before sophomore Ben Gesmondi (Portsmouth, R.I.) walked to load the bases. A wild pitch scored Jamieson and sophomore Brennan Kelley (Huntersville, N.C.) singled in two runs, making the score 15-9.

The Bobcats kept the pressure on, with senior Drew Fallon (Mansfield, Mass.) singling as well and Bates executing another double steal, giving them nine stolen bases in the contest. But reliever Jimmy Moore got a strike out and a ground out to limit the damage.

MIT finished with 13 hits and six walks while the Bobcats tallied nine hits and eight walks. Sonandres and Cartwright combined for six hits and eight RBI for the hosts. Biggane, Cimino, and Attal tallied two hits apiece for Bates. 

Cole Foster (1-0) worked two and a third innings of shutout ball out of the bullpen, striking out five, to earn the win for MIT. 

Original source can be found here