The inception of the 2024 Bates Baseball season, as I view it, can be characterized by two pivotal components. First, the resurgence of a returning pitching nucleus. And second, the task of addressing a void in the outfield. Fortunately for the team, both of these elements have shown early signs of promise. After traveling to Virginia for their opening weekend and returning with a 1-2 record, the Bobcats drove to Northborough, Massachusetts, to play a Sunday doubleheader against Plymouth State. What ensued was a top-to-bottom display of talent, stuffing the box score and sweeping the doubleheader with 10-1 and 14-6 wins, respectively.
The first of the two games showed what we already know: Bates can, and will, compete with any team in the country when ace Sam Hough ‘24 is on the mound. Hough took the rubber, matching up against Plymouth State’s ace, Adrian Siravo, a former LSU commit sitting in the low-90 mph range. If you couldn’t tell by the lop-sided score, this was a lop-sided pitching matchup. Hough finished with a (7 inning) complete game win, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits, and tallying 3 strikeouts without walking a batter. His performance came to the surprise of no one on the Bobcats roster, and reinforced the ultimate goal of a formidable Bates pitching rotation; specifically, one that did not lose a single pitcher in its 2023 graduating class. Luke Linnehan ‘24, a returning contributor from last year’s team, secured his second win of the season in the back-half of the doubleheader, pitching 5 innings and conceding 3 runs. John Tully ‘26 followed with a scoreless sixth inning in relief, striking out two of the four batters he faced.
The Bobcat’s lineup was still grappling with unanswered questions following the departure of two senior outfielders and key contributors as the team entered this season. Up to this point, Jack Margiloff ‘26 and Keagan Ryan ‘27 have filled those open spots admirably. And against Plymouth State, they delivered, both blasting their first collegiate home runs. Ryan’s round-tripper came in only his fourth collegiate game, taking Siravo’s 0-2 slider over the left field wall to even the score at 1 in the bottom of the first inning. Margiloff, who began to see some playing time near the end of his freshman year, added on to the Bobcat’s 11-3 lead in Game 2 by sending a two-run blast over the left-center field fence. And, well, it can’t hurt that the third outfielder (who also splits innings at catcher), Brandon Biggane ‘25, tacked on 4 hits in Game 2, including his own long-ball in the 5th inning.
As Bates prepares for their March break trip to Arizona, followed by their NESCAC opener at Trinity on March 29, they have shown resilience in the past week, bouncing back from a 7-1 loss against #2 ranked Endicott with an impressive 3-game sweep of Bard. Keep an eye out for breakout performances in the outfield, as well as quality outings from upperclassmen pitchers as the squad heads into the most important stretch of their season.
