The Middlebury baseball team scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Trinity tallied a run in the top of the 10th on Friday evening for a 10-9 victory in Winter Haven, Florida. The Panthers (4-5) conclude play in Florida on Saturday with two games, squaring off again with the Bantams at 2:00 p.m. followed by a 5:30 p.m. contest with St. Olaf.  
 
Trailing 3-0, the Panthers scored twice in the bottom of the third inning with two outs. Kyle McCausland was hit by a pitch and Alec Ritch walked, as both came home on a double by Mitchell Schroeder. 
 
Jack Matthews gave the Bantams a three-run lead once again in the top of the fourth, smacking a two-run single. McCausland brought Middlebury back to within 5-3 in the home half of the fifth, tallying his team-best third home run to start the frame. 
 
Trinity scored a single run in the top of the seventh on an RBI double from James Stefanowicz for a 6-3 edge. The Panthers tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the inning on a two-run single from Sammy Smith and a run-scoring base hit by John Collins.
 
In the back-and-forth game, Trinity took a 9-6 lead in the top of the eighth on a three-run base knock by Matthews. Middlebury answered in the bottom of the ninth, as Schroeder led off with a single and scored on a triple by Smith. Andrew Ashley produced an RBI single, while Sawyer Duarte recorded a run-scoring two-out hit to tie the contest at 9-9. 
 
The Bantams recorded the winning run in the 10th, as Patrick Dillion walked with the bases loaded. McCausland started the Panther half of the inning with a walk, but after a lineout to third, Trinity reliever Justin Olsen got out of a jam with a game-ending double play for the final 10-9 score.
 
McCausland went 2-3 with a pair of walks, an RBI and three runs scored for the Panthers. Ritch (2-4, 2 BB, 2R), Schroeder (2-6, 2 RBI, R), Smith (2-3, 2 R, 3RBI) and Duarte (2-5, RBI) all had multi-hit games for Middlebury, while Smith tallied a pair of stolen bases. 
 
George Goldstein (0-1) took the tough-luck loss, going the final three innings giving up two runs on a pair of hits with three strikeouts. 
 
Matthews paced the Bantams at the plate, going 2-4 with a pair of walks and five RBI. Colin Mann (2-3, 2BB, 3R) and Mike Guanci (2-3, RBI) each tallied two hits. Olsen (1-0) earned the win, giving up just two hits over the final two innings.