The Middlebury baseball team (23-8, 10-2) claimed a doubleheader victory over Wesleyan (18-14, 6-6) on Saturday, completing the three-game weekend sweep. The Panthers won the first game by a score of 5-1, before earning a 9-5 victory in the nightcap. Middlebury has a quick turnaround, traveling to Mitchell on Sunday for a 12:30 p.m. start.
With the victories over the Cardinals, the Panthers have secured the top seed in the NESCAC West and will host a best-of-three quarterfinal series against the fourth seed in the East Division next Saturday.
In game one, Middlebury's
John Collins and
Lucas Flemming each homered in the second inning to give the visitors a 2-0 cushion. The Cardinals responded in their half of the frame, as Ryan Molinari scored on a Panther miscue, slicing the deficit in half (2-1).
Beau Root extended the Middlebury lead to 3-1 in the top of the third. Root singled to right and advanced to second, before later advancing to third and scoring on an error.
The Panthers continued slowly increasing the advantage in the fourth.
Chris Borter singled to center field, Flemming was hit by a pitch and
Zip Malley had a base hit to load the bases. Two outs later, Borter and Flemming crossed home plate on a single by
Alec Ritch for the 5-1 final.
Alex Price earned the win on the mound for the visitors, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out six over five innings of work. Price now has 60 strikeouts this season, moving him into third in the Middlebury single-season record books.
George Goldstein recorded his fifth save of the year, adding to his single-season mark of four to rank second on Middlebury's all-time list. Alex Deuth suffered the loss for Wesleyan, allowing five runs on nine hits over the initial four innings.
Collins scored a run on three hits with an RBI, while Root had one run and a hit. Ritch had two hits and one stolen base.
Matt Halas had a pair of hits for the Cardinals, while Wes Fritch had one RBI.
Middlebury jumped out to a 2-0 edge in the second game. A sacrifice fly by Ritch drove in
Nathan Samii who reached on an error, before
Sammy Smith doubled to drive in
Mitchell Schroeder. Wesleyan cut the lead (2-1) in its half of the inning when Halas singled and eventually touched home plate on a base hit by Adam Geibel.
In the bottom of the second, the Cardinals knotted the game at 2-2 when Cole Torini drove in Molinari with a single to center.
The Panthers took a 3-2 edge in the third when
Sawyer Duarte scored on a base hit to center by Schroeder, but Wesleyan scored on an error in the fourth to tie the game at 3-3.
In the top of the fifth with runners on second and third, Schroeder laced a double to score Samii and Duarte. Schroeder later touched home on a sacrifice fly by
Andrew Ashley to give Middlebury a 6-3 lead.
The Cardinals got a run back in the fifth, but the Panthers tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth to secure the win.
Baker Angstman singled, Duarte was hit by a pitch, before both stole a base. Two outs later, Duarte advanced to third on a wild pitch, sending Angstman home on the play. Ritch walked before Duarte crossed the plate on an error by the first baseman. Ritch stole second and third, before scoring on an error for the 9-4 advantage. Wesleyan tallied a final run in its half of the inning, but the Panthers recorded the final out to secure the 9-5 victory.
Cole Crider improved to 4-0 this season on the mound, allowing just one run on four hits over two innings of relief. Goldstein tossed the final stanza, tying him for the school record with 18 appearances this season. Scott Shield tossed the loss, allowing six runs on nine hits over six innings of work.
Duarte paced Middlebury at the plate, going a perfect 3-3 with three runs scored. Schroeder had two runs on three hits with three RBI and a double for the Panthers. Ritch recorded three stolen bases during the contest, moving him into first on Middlebury's single-season list with 31. The Panthers had three doubles during the contest, tying the school record with 84 for the year.
Halas led Wesleyan with two runs on three hits while three Cardinals had a pair of hits each.
