No worries for Endicott, which did a twin bill’s worth of damage with the bats, and then some, at Bates’ expense in the sun-drenched, breezy opener.

Every member of the Gulls’ starting lineup notched at least one hit, and eight of them were repeat offenders against five Bobcats’ pitchers in a 22-8 rout.

Bates (8-10) actually led by a pair through five innings but couldn’t hang on in the face of Endicott’s barrage against the bullpen. The Gulls (18-11) scored six runs in the sixth frame, seven in the eighth and another half-dozen in the ninth.

“We’re trying to find ourselves right now. We’ve had some games like that where we’ve looked like an 8-10 team, and we’ve played some other games where we look like a team that can make a run,” Bates coach Mike Leonard said. “Unfortunately we’ve struggled to minimize big innings, all season. Bad games have been a result of big innings.”

Seven errors and seven unearned runs contributed to the Bobcats’ demise, but the Gulls did plenty to exacerbate the damage.

Junior catcher Josh Drew was 4-for-6 with four runs scored and two RBIs. Mike Kochiss, Matthew Paola and Nicholas De Lotto each added three hits. Kochiss drove in four runs. Paola and De Lotto scored three run apiece, while Paola stole three bases on the journey.

“A lot of ups and a lot of downs,” Bates senior catcher Mekae Hyde said. “That seems to be how we’re playing all year. We play well (in NESCAC games) when it really matters. We need to figure out how to play well during games like this.”

The scheduled meeting between Lewiston’s Hyde brothers failed to materialize when Corbin, a junior first baseman and outfielder for Endicott, didn’t play in the game for the second consecutive year.

Corbin Hyde broke his left wrist on a slide during the final game of Endicott’s southern trip March 20. He was batting .385 at the time. He could return to the Gulls’ lineup after follow-up x-rays Tuesday.

Mekae scored a run after a seventh-inning single, one of Bates’ 10 hits. Endicott banged out 22.

The game ended a five-day layoff for Bates’ final exam week. The Bobcats now will play 11 games in an eight-day span during what amounts to their spring break before short term.

Bates is a half-game behind Tufts for first place in a crowded NESCAC East race. The Bobcats will visit the Jumbos for a crucial three-game set next weekend.

“We’re in great shape in conference,” Leonard said. “We’ve got to win, but we certainly are in a position to do that if we don’t do some of the things we did today.”

The 3-hour, 14-minute grind got off to a promising start for Bates, which answered Harry Oringer’s RBI single with three runs in the bottom of the first, all coming with two out.

Nate Pajka’s walk and Sam Berry’s infield single set the table for Rockwell Jackson’s triple to the right field corner. Jackson scored on a single by Sam Warren.

Endicott pulled even with RBI singles by Drew and Dan Zabbo in the fourth, but the Bobcats matched it on a two-out, two-run single by Ryan McCarthy for a 5-3 lead.

Shortstop Cody Hall made one of his many defensive gems to rob Hyde and end that rally.

“I felt good. I hit the ball hard,” Hyde said. “Didn’t get a bunch of hits, but that’s the name of the game.”

Two disputed plays triggered Endicott’s go-ahead uprising in the sixth.

Leonard first protested that De Lotto failed to back away from a Connor Speed offering that was near the strike zone but grazed the shoulder of the Gulls’ first baseman.

Anthony Serina’s double along the third-base line drew an even louder dispute. Leonard felt that it was a foul ball.

“We don’t handle the adversity well in those innings,” he said. “It’s never just one guy or one call. We haven’t had the ability to stop it when it starts to snowball.”

Speed failed to cover first base after Jackson bobbled a hot grounder down the line. The remainder of Endicott’s big inning was a combination of singles by Paolo and Michael DeDonato, a walk, another hit batsman and a failed fielder’s choice, all against reliever Chris Ward.

Bates got a run back in the seventh on Berry’s sacrifice bunt, then marched the potential tying run to the plate before Endicott left-hander Zac Poland escaped with a flyout and groundout.

That’s when the floodgates opened. Key hits were a two-run single by Drew in the eighth and a two-run triple off Kochiss’ bat in the ninth.

“We’re trying to find out what guys can do. We’ve had a hard time getting into any kind of rhythm and defining roles,” Leonard said. “We have some starters to find and a closer to find and some other guys that we’re really not sure who’s what, and with a bunch of games coming up we’re going to learn about our guys.”

Luke Morse (3-2) went 5 2/3 innings to earn the win, scattering six hits and striking out three. Poland worked the duration and was credited with the save.

In the scheduled nightcap, Endicott led 3-0 in the bottom of the second when the umpires called a mandatory 30-minute lightning delay, during which time the rain arrived in earnest.

It probably wasn’t the worst thing for Bates, given the crowded upcoming itinerary.

“A lot of our games got canceled early in the year and got rescheduled for this week,” Hyde said. “It’s one of those things where we didn’t play well, but we’ve got to save our bullets for Tufts next weekend.”

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