Middlebury scored six runs in the first two innings and held on for a 7-5 non-league win over Plattsburgh on Forbes Field. Matt Lowes moved to 2-0 on the season as he allowed a run on three hits over five innings of work. The Panthers return to action on Friday and Saturday when they host Hamilton in a three-game NESCAC West series.
Middlebury sent 10 men to the plate in the first inning, scoring four runs on two hits with three runners left on base. Mark Shimrock plated Tim Dillon with an RBI single to right center to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Zach Roeder doubled off the fence down the left field line to plate Donald McKillop, followed by a walk from Pete Bourdon. Plattsburgh starter Dustin Currier was chased from the game, as Kevin Gent came on in relief with the bases loaded. Gent walked Matt Wassel to score Shimrock, before hitting Murphy McCurdy to plate Roeder, making it a 4-0 game.
Following a 37-minute first inning, the Panther struck for a pair on the bottom of the second. Erich Enns drove in McKillop and Danny Seymour with a single through the right side to give Middlebury a 6-0 advantage.
Plattsburgh chipped away with a SAC fly from Matt Burns in the fifth and an RBI groundout by Burns in the seventh. Middlebury came back with a run in the bottom of the seventh as Roeder singled through the left side to score Enns, who led off the inning with a double down the left field line.
Middlebury's Steve Shortle threw two innings of effective relief before being replaced by Peter Kinchley in the eighth. Plattsburgh rallied with an RBI double to left by Matt Kelley and an RBI single to left center by Andrew Baio to cut the lead to 7-4. Erik Schwind plated Baio with a single later in the inning, to make it a two-run game. Kinchley gave way to Matt Joseph, who struck out Burns to end the inning. Joseph stayed strong in the ninth, striking out the side to record his first save of the season.
Roeder went 3-4 with a double and two RBI, while Enns was 2-4 with a double and two driven in for the Panthers. Kelley, Baio and Schwind each had two hits for Plattsburgh, as Baio scored three times.
