Middlebury dropped game one of a three-game NESCAC West set with Williams (4-3, 1-0) on Friday by a score of 18-5. The two teams will go at it again on Saturday in Arizona with games two and three of the series. The Panthers fall to 2-6 overall, 0-1 in NESCAC play.

Williams turned up the offense early with 10 runs in the first two innings for a 10-1 lead. Middlebury plated two in the third on a fielder's choice and an RBI single to right by Garrett Werner.

The Panthers added a run in the fourth on a SAC fly from Jason Lock before the Ephs plated two in the fifth and one in the sixth for a 13-4 advantage.

Middlebury scored its last run of the game in the sixth, before Williams scored three times in the seventh and twice in the ninth for the victory.

Eric Truss (0-2) took the loss, allowing seven earned runs over three innings of work. John Luke finished the game 3-5, while Werner and Alex Kelly had two hits apiece. Max Araya walked three times and scored twice.