The Panther baseball team returned to action from a lengthy break after their Floriday trip. Middlebury defeated Hamilton on Friday 6-3, pounded the Continentals in game one on Saturday 18-4, before falling in the series finale, 5-2.
In game one on Friday, Hamilton held a 1-0 lead before a solo homer by sophomore Andrew Pavoni (Scotch Plains, N.J.) tied the game in the fifth. The game was tied at two heading into the seventh inning where the Panthers plated four runs with two outs. A two-run double from junior Joe Ramoin (Nederland, Texas) sparked the inning. Hamilton scored one late run to make it a 6-3 final. Junior David Riester (Appleton, Wis.) threw eight innings for the win, striking out five. Ramoin and senior Abe Streep (S. Nyack, N.Y.) each had a pair of hits in the game.
Middlebury scored 11 runs in the first three innings in game one on Saturday to pick up an 18-4 win. Senior Jake Armstrong (Plymouth, Mass.) led off the game with a homer to get things going. A two-run double by first-year player Jocko DeCarolis (Taberg, N.Y.) scored two more later in the inning. Ramoin had a two-run double in the second, while sophomore Ryan Armstrong (Whitman, Mass.) and senior Jim Muhlfeld (Darien, Conn.) each had a two-run homer in the third. Muhlfeld struck again in the fourth, this time with a three-run shot to put the game out of reach. Senior Ben Christensen (Kalispell, Mont.) got the win, throwing five innings and striking out four. Muhlfeld ended the day 4-5 with six RBI and four runs scored, while R. Armstrong was 2-4 with four RBI and a pair of runs scored.
R. Armstrong homered in the first inning of game three of the series to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Hamilton answered in the second before Middlebury regained the lead in the third. Hamilton scored three in the third and one in the fifth to earn the 5-2 win. R. Armstrong had two hits in the game as did junior Dev Talvadkar (Washington, D.C.). Sophomore Tyler Bak (Northampton, Mass.) took the loss.
