Did they say there were bitten or scratched by the bat? As long as they only held the bat and didn't touch it's mouth/ saliva, they should be okay.
According to one website I visited:
Rabies is spread when an animal or human is bitten or scratched by an infected animal, or if an infected animal’s saliva comes in contact with broken skin or mucous membranes. Nonbite exposures (which occur when an open cut in the skin or mucous membrane is exposed to the rabies virus) rarely lead to rabies but will need treatment.
The mouth has a mucous membrane so IF your friend had rabies, you could have become infected by drinking after him.
The problem with rabies is that the only way to truly know if an animal has it is by an autopsy. Most often they go by the animal's symptoms but by the time symptoms appear there is nothing that can be done for the animal. Shots have to be administered to the bitten or scratched person before symptoms appear in order to prevent infection.
I would have a serious discussion with your friend and find out EVERYTHING he did, everything he touched while he had the bat, if anything happened when he was trying to feed it...