Middlebury rallied for five runs in the seventh inning en route to an 11-7 come-from-behind victory over Hamilton in game one of a three-game series. The Panthers and Continentals will play games two and three beginning on Saturday at noon.
Trailing 2-1, Hamilton struck for six runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-2 lead. A two-run single by Dan Hood sparked the six-run inning that chased starter Chris Fraser from the game. A pass ball and an RBI triple by David Riester cut the lead to 7-4 in the bottom of the inning, which is where it stayed until the seventh.
Middlebury would score six runs on six hits in the seventh inning, including a bases clearing three-run double to left center by John Lanahan. Dev Talvadkar and Ryan Whyte each had RBI singles in the inning that saw the Panthers take a 9-7 lead. Middlebury added to the lead in the bottom of the eighth, scoring a run on a wild pitch as well as an RBI single from Lanahan.
Jack Britton earned the win in relief, throwing five and two-thirds innings of shutout baseball. Riester ended the day 4-5 with three runs scored, while Lanahan went 2-5 with four RBI. Walker, Andrew Pavoni and Ryan Armstrong each had two hits in the game.
Paul Kibbe took the loss for Hamilton, allowing nine earned runs over six and a third innings of work. Hood went 3-5 with a pair driven in on the afternoon, while Eric Villanova had a pair of singles.
