WATERVILLE, Maine - Thomas baseball's ninth inning rally fell just short as they fell 10-9 to Bates College in a back-and-forth game.
The Bobcats struck first with two runs in the third inning.
Kyle Gleason (Danville, N.H.) got one of those runs back when he doubled to center field to score
DJ Cagnina (South Berwick, Maine).
The Terriers took the lead for the first time in the fourth when they scored two runs.
Jake Lacroix (Berwick, Maine) tied the game at two when he singled to left field, scoring
Devin Grindle (Surry, Maine). Later in the inning
Jason Bartlett (Belfast, Maine) singled to center to score Lacroix, giving Thomas a 3-2 lead.
Grindle extended the Terrier lead with a single in the fourth, scoring
Tony Meza (Los Angeles, Calif.) but the lead did not last. Bates came storming back in the seventh and eighth inning, scoring a combined 5 runs to take a 7-4 lead. Thomas scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to get back within one but Bates would answer with three more runs of their own to extend their lead to 10-6.
The Terriers were not done fighting though, Gleason and Bartlett both hit singles to drive in a run to cut the lead back down to two, 10-8.
Brad Smith (Ellsworth, Maine) hit a sacrifice fly to get Thomas within one but unfortunately they were not able to complete the comeback. Bartlett led the team with four hits and three RBIs while Gleason had two hits and three RBIs.
UP NEXT: The Terriers start their conference play on Saturday at home with a doubleheader against the University of Maine at Farmington. Game one is scheduled for 1 p.m. with game two to follow immediately after.
