TUCSON, Ariz. – The offense of the Carleton College baseball team was unable to find a groove as the Knights lost 7-1 to the Bates College Bobcats on Monday.
Sam Zacks started the game on the hill for the Knights (1-5) and worked two scoreless innings to begin the game, twice stranding runners at third base. The Bobcats (7-3) finally solved the sidearming junior in the third, notching four hits and three runs.
The Carleton bats, however, continued to be mastered by Bates' pitcher Luke Linnehan, who faced the minimum through three innings. Zacks tried to help his own cause by leading off the fourth with a single into right, but he was stranded at third after a steal and pickoff attempt error.
Asher Stolberg was the next Knight on the mound and put in a workmanlike performance, pitching 3.0 innings and only giving up one run on an RBI groundout in his final frame. The top Knights' highlight came on defense in the fourth inning, as the Bobcats knocked a pair of singles but both runners were cut down attempting to steal second by Carleton backstop
Jack Hommeyer.
All the while, Linnehan continued to coax soft contact from Carleton. The righthander would end up tossing 7.0 shutout innings, allowing just one hit while striking out three.
The Bobcats pushed across a pair of insurance runs in the seventh, and Carleton got its lone score of the day in the eighth when Hommeyer and
Aaron Rice reached on errors,
Nathan Barnhart placed a single into short right field to load the bases, and
Sam Chutkow hit a RBI grounder.
Ryan Chang knocked a hard grounder through the right side in the ninth, but the next batter was retired to conclude the game.
Zacks surrendered three runs in his 3.0 innings and was tagged with the loss, while Stolberg fanned two in his 3.0 innings of work.
Zach Gordon and
Dan Avillo both made their varsity mound debuts, with Gordon going 2.0 frames and allowing two earned runs, and Avillo pitching the final frame while giving up an unearned tally.
The Bobcats outhit the Knights 12-3, the first time Carleton has been outhit since the opening game of the season.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton looks to get back on track against when the Knights face Wesleyan University on Tuesday, March 19 at 9:30 A.M. MST/11:30 A.M. CDT. The game is at Kino Sports Complex Field #5.
