The Middlebury baseball team (0-10, 0-4) dropped game one of a three-game NESCAC West series to Amherst (8-6, 1-0) on Friday night, falling by a score of 22-2 in a game played at Auburn High School. The two teams hope to return to action on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. at the same location.

Amherst scored in every inning, pounding out 18 hits on the night. Nine of the Jeffs runs were unearned, as the Panthers committed eight errors in the field.

Middlebury scored its two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Jason Lock singled to left and moved to second on a ground out before scoring on a single to right from Raj Palekar. One batter later, Ryan Rizzo plated Palekar with a double to left.

Middlebury picked up 10 hits in the game, led by a 3-4 effort from Rizzo. Lock finished 2-4, while Palekar was 2-4 as well. Five different players threw for the Panthers, as Eric Truss (0-2) suffered the loss with three innings of work.

Amherst's John Cook (2-0) was victorious, striking out a pair over five innings. Mike Odenwaelder went 4-6 with a double, triple four RBI and three runs scored, while Andrew Vandini was 2-5 with three RBI and three runs scored to pace the Jeffs.