Middlebury dropped game one of a three-game NESCAC West set with Williams (4-3, 1-0) on Friday in Tucson, Arizona by a score of 13-12 via a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth inning. The two teams will go at it again on Saturday with games two and three of the series. The Panthers fall to 0-7 overall and 0-1 in NESCAC play.

The Panthers jumped on the board first in the top of the second inning with a pair of runs via RBI singles from Ryan Rizzo and Dylan Sinnickson. The Ephs took the lead with four runs in the bottom of the frame and three more in the home half of the third for a 7-2 advantage.

Middlebury chipped away and eventually regained the lead with two runs in the top of the fourth and four more in the fifth. Runs were produced in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Rizzo and a run-scoring single from Max Araya, while two-run singles by Rizzo and Johnny Read gave the blue and white an 8-7 edge through five frames.

The runs continued to cross the plate as Middlebury's John Luke lifted a sacrifice fly to center in the top of the sixth, but Williams answered that score with a Beau Horan single in the bottom of the next inning.

Ahead by a 9-8 score, the Panthers grabbed a four-run cushion with three in the top of the eighth. Raj Palekar laced his second triple of the spring, scoring Araya and Brendan Donohue, who each singled earlier in the inning. After a pop-up to the shortstop, Garrett Werner drove home Palekar with a single.

In the back-and-forth contest, Williams pulled to within one at 12-11 with a trio of runs in its half of the eighth. Adam Regensburg blasted a leadoff homerun, while Luke Pierce had a sacrifice fly and Nathan Michalski laced a run-scoring double.

With the Panthers ahead by a run and Williams batting in the bottom of the ninth, Middlebury recorded the first two outs. Regensburg drew a walk and Jack Roberts singled. Phil McGovern was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Pierce recorded a two-run single, scoring Regensburg and Roberts with the winning run.

At the plate, the Panthers tallied 18 hits led by Sinnickson's 3-6 output, while Read also had a three-hit game going 3-4 with two RBI and a walk. Donohue and Palekar each had two hits, and both scored three times, while Rizzo finished 2-4 with a team-best four RBI.

Regensburg was 2-5 with a pair of runs scored, Michalski was 3-5 with three doubles with two RBI and a pair of runs, while Jack Cloud went 1-6 with four RBI to pace the Ephs.

Jake Stalcup (0-2) took the loss, giving up three runs on four hits in 1.2 innings. Eric Truss went the first seven innings for Middlebury, giving up 10 runs, seven earned, on 13 hits striking out three and walking a pair.

Jacob Slater (1-0) pitched the ninth for Williams allowing just one hit with a pair of strikeouts for the win. Thomas Murphy went the first five innings for the Ephs, allowing nine runs, eight earned, on 12 hits. Tyler Duff went three innings giving up three runs on five hits.