TROY, N.Y. – Seniors Hudson Livesey and Cole Paquin combined to drive in four runs to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) baseball team to a 5-3 victory over Bates College, on Saturday afternoon at Robison Field at Karl Steffen Ballpark. With the win, the Engineers improve to 1-1 overall, while the Bobcats drop to 1-3.

RPI jumped out an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first after Bates put two in scoring position with only one out in top half.

Paquin (Clifon Park, NY / Shenendehowa) plated the first two runs of the game with a double that whistled just inside the third base bag. Dylan Albert (Southington, CT / Xavier) and Jake Defayette (Schenectady, NY / Schalmont) came around to score on the play. Graduate student Joe Curci (Chicago, IL / University of Chicago High School) then singled-home Paquin for 3-0, before Livesey (St. Petersburg, FL / St. Petersburg) tripled off the fence in center to cap the rally.

Bates scratched a run across in the top of the second to pull within 4-1. Drew Fallon (Mansfield, MA / Moses Brown School) delivered a base hit to left that scored Jack Brennan (West Hartford, CT / Conard).

Solid middle-inning pitching from both sides kept the opposing offenses off the board until the top of the seventh, when the Bobcats took advantage of a passed ball and a wild pitch to make it a one-run game at 4-3.

The Engineers plated an insurance run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Livesey, which brought home Jack Moncur (Burlington, ON / Notre Dame Catholic) from third base.

Righthanders Cameron Heuer (New York, NY / Hunter College High School) and Thomas Neuman (Fort Lauderdale, FL / Westminster Academy) tossed scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth to seal the victory, with Neuman picking up the save after inducing a game-ending, 6-4-3 double play.

Both teams are back in action tomorrow afternoon for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 12pm.