The Middlebury baseball team opened its 2018 season with an 8-4 loss at Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday at Dobbelaar Field. Stevens (3-4) was playing its seventh game of the spring. Middlebury returns to the diamond on Sunday for a doubleheader at Bard with the first pitch set for 12:00 p.m.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when Stevens scored four times on five hits. Tommy Baronner started things with a run-scoring double to center, Alex Detweiler had an RBI single through the right side, while Ambrose Consol doubled to left field to bring home two more for a 4-0 lead.

The Ducks doubled their lead in the home half of the fourth. Thomas Paulich had a single through the left side for a 5-0 advantage, while Detweiler followed with a run-scoring base hit through the right side. Consol capped the inning with a two-run base knock through the right side for an 8-0 lead.

The Panthers got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth. With two outs, Justin Han tallied Middlebury's first hit with a single up the middle. He moved to second when Sam Graf was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Han made the score 8-1 when he raced home on a Stevens' error.

Middlebury tallied three runs on just one hit and were aided by a Duck miscue in the top of the eighth. Brooks Carroll drew a leadoff walk, and came around to score on a single to shortstop by Han. Han later scored on a wild pitch, while Andrew Hennings made it 8-4 when he grounded out to the pitcher with the bases loaded for the RBI.

Han led the Panthers with a 2-3 performance at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI, while Sebastian Sanchez had the other hit for Middlebury.

Spencer Shores (0-1) tossed the first three innings allowing five runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. John Tipps recorded one out with a run on two hits. Robert Erickson pitched the final 4.2 innings, allowing just one hit with four strikeouts.

Paulich paced the Ducks with a 3-4 effort at the plate with two runs scored, while Detweiler (2-5, 2 RBI), Consol (2-4, 4 RBI) and Matthew Pasko (2-4, 2 R) each had multi-hit games.

Quinn Dipasquale (1-1) went 7.0 innings for Stevens, allowing one unearned run on one hit with 13 strikeouts to earn the victory. Ryan Larsen allowed a run on three hits without recording an out, while Roy Iversen went the last 2.0 innings.