The Middlebury baseball team (0-2, 0-2) dropped a doubleheader at Williams (5-0, 5-0) in its first outing of the season. The Panthers return to the diamond on Saturday, hosting Wesleyan in a twin bill with the first pitch scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
 
Middlebury wasted little time getting on the board in game one, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first. Lucas Flemming reached on an error, before a triple to right field by Sammy Smith drove Flemming home. An Ephs' error two plays later allowed Smith to touch the plate, giving the Panthers a 2-0 early edge. Williams responded in its half of the inning. With the bases loaded, a pair of Ephs touched home on a single to center field by Jeremy Irzyk. On the next at-bat, Philip Barnett singled to drive in another run before stealing second. Cole Whitehouse hit a single to center field, bringing home Barnett and Irzyk for the 5-2 lead. 
 
The Panthers answered in the top of the second. With two outs, Evan Hunter singled up the middle and Baker Angstman walked, before Fleming homered down the right-field line to even the game 5-5. The Ephs took a 6-5 edge in the bottom of the third, before craking the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth. Williams scored 11 runs over the fifth and sixth inning to take a 17-5 lead. Middlebury's Angstman scampered across home on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh for the 17-6 final. 
 
Henry Gustavson (0-1) suffered the loss on the mound for the Panthers. Smith finished 2-3 with a double and a triple, while Fleming went 2-4 with a homer and three RBI. Sean Hogan (2-0) picked up the win for Williams, giving up six runs on six hits while striking out 10 over seven innings of work. Kurt Oelschlager went 2-3 with two RBI, while Orluk and Whitehouse each went 2-4 with a double. 
 
The second game of the series started similar to the first with both teams getting on the board in the first inning. Middlebury's Fleming singled to the pitcher, before touching home on a triple by Smith. Later, Smith crossed home plate on a passed ball for the early 2-0 edge. Williams answered, scoring nine runs over the next two innings to take a 9-2 advantage. 
 
The Panthers responded in the top of the fourth, cutting the deficit to three (9-6). Lucas Cai and Mitchell Schroeder were both hit by a pitch, before Andrew Ashley hit a homer to right field to drive in Cai and Schroeder. With runners on first and second, Fleming singled through the left side to bring Charlie Kutz home. The Ephs added a run in the fourth, before Middlebury again brought the game to within three (10-7). With runners on first and third, a sacrifice fly by Ashely brought home Cai. Williams exploded in the bottom of the fifth, scoring nine runs to put the game out of reach. The Ephs added a single run in the bottom of the sixth for the 20-7 victory.
 
Andrew Gatland (0-1) suffered the loss for Middlebury. Ashley went 1-2 with four RBI and a home run, while Fleming went 2-4 with an RBI and Smith had a triple. Bryan Wooley (1-0) earned the win for Williams, allowing one run on one hit over 2.1 innings of work. Cohn went 3-3 with a homer and two RBI, while Singleton went 3-3 with three RBI.