Middlebury and Hamilton split a pair of NESCAC West league games on Saturday afternoon, as the Panthers took two of three overall to win the series. Hamilton earned a 9-7 come-from-behind victory in game one, before Middlebury bounced back with an 8-6 win in the nightcap.
Middlebury took a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game one, as Danny Seymour doubled to left and was plated on a single up the middle by Donald McKillop. Mark Shimrock followed with a double to right to score McKillop, before Zach Roeder drove in Shimrock on a SAC fly.
Hamilton answered in the second as Wes Mayberry singled and later scored on a wild pitch. McKillop drove in Seymour with a triple down the right field line in the third to give the Panthers a 4-1 lead. The lead expanded to 6-1 in the fifth as Shimrock doubled down the right field line to drive in Seymour and McKillop.
The Continentals came back in the late innings, scoring four in the sixth and four in the seventh to pick up the 9-7 win. A two-run single by Gideon Clark with the bases loaded in the sixth cut the Middlebury lead to 6-5, before McKillop drove in Alex Blair in the bottom of the inning to make it a 7-5 game.
Hamilton's Grady Vigneau and Pat Gennaco each drew bases loaded walks in the seventh to tie the game at 7-7. Clark drove in the game-winning runs for the Continentals, as his single to right scored two as all four runs in the inning were unearned.
McKillop went 4-4 in the game with a triple, three RBI and two runs scored to lead the Panthers. Seymour was 2-3 with a double and two runs scored, while Shimrock doubled twice and drove in three.
Wes Mayberry went 3-3 with three runs scored for Hamilton, Clark was 2-5 with four RBI, while Justin Atwood and Michael Matt each had a pair of hits. Michael Caruso earned the win in relief, allowing one run and three hits over two innings of work.
Middlebury jumped out to a 1-0 lead in game two, as Seymour walked and later scored in a single up the middle by Shimrock. Hamilton scratched across runs in the second and fourth on a doubleplay and bases loaded walk by Atwood. The Continentals plated three runs in the fifth, two unearned, taking a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the inning.
The Panthers rallied in the fifth, as Tim Dillon walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch and later scored on an RBI single to left by Seymour. McKillop singled down the right field line and Shimrock walked to load the bases for Erich Enns. Nzaba Fonseca-Sabune came on in relief of Donovan Flint, as Enns greeted him with a lengthy grand slam homer to left to give the Panthers a 6-5 advantage. Enns wasn't done there, as he stepped to the plate in the seventh following a Shimrock walk, belting a two-run bomb to left to make it an 8-5 game.
Hamilton rallied in the bottom of the ninth, as Sam Choate singled to left and Clark singled to center before Scooter Scott was lifted for Matt Lowes. Alex Augustyn greeted him with a single to center to load the bases for Wes Mayberry, who hit a SAC fly to right to plate Coate. Lowes was able to get Atwood to ground out to end the game, as the Panthers picked up the game two victory.
Dirk vanDuym earned the win in relief to move to 3-0 on the season, as Lowes recorded his second save of the year. Enns went 3-4 in the game with two homers, six RBI and a pair scored, as McKillop was 2-5. Augustyn went 3-4, Choate was 2-5 with three runs scored, while Clark went 3-6 on the afternoon for the Continentals.
