FERRUM, Virginia -- Carlos Castillo went 3-4 at the plate with a double, two runs and two RBI to lead Ferrum College to a 15-9 non-conference baseball win over visiting Bates College this afternoon at Panther Field.

RECORDS
Ferrum (1-3)
Bates (0-1)

THE BASICS
Today's win was the first career victory for first-year Head Coach Eric Owens. The game was tied at 7-7 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning when Ferrum exploded for seven runs to make it a 14-7 Panther lead.

Gregory Melo started it off with a double to right field, then Shawn Baxter had an RBI single to left field. Castillo later in the inning doubled to left field to drive in two runs, then Kyle Markowitz singled to center field to push two more runs across the plate. JJ Mulhern accounted for the final run in the fifth inning when he drove an RBI single through the left side.

Melo would add an RBI single to center in the seventh inning to extend Ferrum's lead to 15-7. Bates picked up a pair of runs in the top of the eighth inning on Jack Margiloff's RBI double to left field, but that was all the Bobcats would get.

KEY STATS
Ferrum: Castillo 3-4, double, 2 runs, 2 RBI; SP Matthew Sheppard (W, 1-1) 2 inn, 3 hits, 2 ER, 2 K
Bates: Ben Genser 4-5, run, 4 RBI; Nolan Hobbs (L, 0-1) 1.1 inn, 3 ER

UP NEXT
Owens' squad will be back at Panther Field Saturday, February 22, for a doubleheader with Bates to close out the three-game weekend series. Game one is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.