Middlebury led 10-2 early and held on for a 12-7 win over Wesleyan in game one of a three-game NESCAC West series on Middlebury's Forbes Field. The two teams return to action on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11:00 a.m., an hour earlier than scheduled due to impending rain.

Wesleyan came out swinging in the first inning, with Justin Freres drilling a two-run shot to left after Julian Sonnenfeld had walked. Middlebury answered strongly in the bottom of the inning scoring six runs on six hits, sending 10 men to the plate. After a lead-off walk by Tyler Wark, seven of the next eight batters singled off Wesleyan starter Jimmy Hill, who entered with a 4-0 mark and a 1.26 ERA. Thomas Driscoll had a two-run single to center in the inning, leaving the Panthers with a 6-2 lead after one inning of play.

Middlebury added to the lead in the second, chasing Hill from the game after a lead-off single to center by Will Baine. After an RBI single up the middle by Michael Morris, Joseph Conway followed with a three-run bomb to left center, making it a 10-2 game.

Middlebury starter Nick Angstman gave up a run in the third and four more in the fourth, giving way to Andy Dittrich who tossed 2.1 scoreless innings. Seven of the first eight Wesleyan batters reached base in the fourth, with run-scoring singles from Kyle Weiss, Alex Meadow and Freres.

The Panthers added two more runs in the sixth, with a run-scoring double to left center by Donald McKillop and an RBI single from Zach Roeder to make it a 12-7 final.  Tyler Buckingham (2-0) tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless ball to pick up his second win over the season. John Popkowski threw a scoreless ninth for the Panthers.

Baine finished the day 4-5 with three runs scored, while Conway was 3-4 with a homer, three RBI and two runs scored. Roeder and Morris also had multiple hit days for the Panthers.

Chase Levi settled down to toss seven innings for Wesleyan, allowing five runs on seven hits. He went 12 batters without allowing a hit prior to Middlebury's pair of runs in the sixth. Freres finished 5-6 with a homer, three RBI and two runs scored, while Noah Feingold went 2-2 at the plate as the Cardinals left 16 men on base.

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