Playing at home for the first time in nearly two years, the Middlebury baseball team dropped both ends of a twin bill on Saturday, falling to NESCAC West foe Wesleyan 9-3 and 8-4. The Panthers (0-4, 0-4) return to action next weekend, hosting Hamilton for a doubleheader on Saturday, while the Cardinals (4-4, 4-4) are idle until May 1 with two games at Williams.
 
Middlebury didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard, as Sammy Smith blasted a lead-off home run to center field in the last half of the first inning. It was his first collegiate homer.
 
The Cardinals jumped in front in the second frame, plating a pair of runs on a base hit up the middle by Dylan Judd for a 2-1 edge.
 
The visitors added to their advantage in the third, scoring four times. Jack Nally hit a solo shot to left, before Ryan Molinari stole home on a double steal. Caden Grider capped the frame with a two-run single to push the margin to 6-1.
 
The teams traded runs in the fourth, as Eddie Zanor lofted a solo home run to center field for the Cardinals, while Baker Angstman singled, and scored on a wild pitch for the hosts.
 
Wesleyan pushed two more runs across in the sixth, while Middlebury added a final tally in the last of the seventh. Andrew Ashley hit a single to shallow left field, scoring Jack Torpey from second for the 9-3 final.
 
Ashley finished with two hits and a RBI, while Smith reached base twice with a home run and walk. Charlie Kutz (0-1) suffered the loss for the Panthers, allowing five runs in two innings, while Gavin Gattuso retired all four batters he faced in relief.
 
Nally, Zanor and Ricky Finkel had two hits apiece at the plate for Wesleyan. Coleton Reitan improved to 3-0, allowing two runs on four hits over four innings of work with eight strikeouts.
 
In game two, the Cardinals claimed a 2-0 lead in their initial at bat. Zanor singled to right to plate a run and scored one batter later on a double to left by Ricky Finkel.
 
The Panthers knotted the score in the third inning. Smith reached on an infield error and later touched the plate on a base hit up the middle by Mitchell Schroeder to make it 2-1. Angstman delivered another two-out single, driving home Schroeder.
 
The guests took the lead for good in the fourth with three runs for a 5-2 advantage. Kyle Sylvester had the big hit of the inning, a two-run single just inside the foul line in right field.
 
The Cardinals added a single run in the sixth inning, but Middlebury got it right back when Evan Hunter scored on a ground out by Joseph Duran to make it 6-3.

A run-scoring single by Zanor and a squeeze bunt by Jimmy Clifford gave Wesleyan an 8-3 lead, but the Panthers made it interesting in their final at bat. Lucas Cai singled to center with the bases loaded to trim the margin to 8-4, only to have Wesleyan reliever Adam Bowler retired the final two batters with the game-tying run at the plate.
 
Ashley went 3-4 for the hosts, while Andrew Gatland (0-2) took the loss in relief, allowing four runs over three innings.
 
Finkel went 2-2 for the Cardinals with a double, while Zanor and Adam Geibel each went 2-3. Pat Clare (1-2) collected the win on the mound, allowing four runs on five hits over 6.1 innings with nine strikeouts.