Top-ranked Eastern Connecticut State University (41-3) scored 13 runs over the final three innings to break open a tie game and fend off Middlebury for a 17-4 victory on the second day of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. The Panthers (30-13) are right back on the field at the Rochester Regional, facing Swarthmore in an elimination game at 6:40 p.m. The winner of that game advances to Sunday's regional final, facing the Warriors at 11:00 a.m.

The Panthers, who were the home team, nearly opened the scoring in the bottom half of the first, but Eastern center fielder Ryan Bagdasarian reached over the top of the fence to deny John Collins of a home run.

The Warriors turned to the long ball to open the scoring in the third, as John Mesagno lofted a two-run homer to center for a 2-0 lead.

Middlebury quickly evened the score in the latter half of the frame when Lucas Flemming ripped a deep home run to left to drive in Chris Borter. The Panthers took their first lead two batters later, as Beau Root tripled to right field and raced home on a sacrifice fly to center by Alec Ritch for a 3-2 edge.

Borter added another tally to Middlebury's total in the fourth (4-2), hitting a solo homer to left-center field that bounced off the top of the fence.

The trend of scoring via home runs continued in the top half of the fifth, as Luke Broadhurst hit a solo blast for Eastern to trim the difference to 4-3.

A stanza later, the Warriors tied the game at 4-4 on a two-out infield single by Jason Claiborn.

Eastern regained the lead in the seventh on a two-run homer by Matt Malcom to left center. An RBI double down the line in left by Josh Tower pushed the margin to 7-4, while back-to-back run-scoring bunts added two more tallies. In all, the Warriors produced a nine-run inning to take a 13-4 advantage.

Eastern scored three more times in the eighth and another in the final frame to make the final 17-4.

Root went 2-4 at the plate for the Panthers, while Flemming and Borter each homered. Ritch went 1-2 with a walk, giving him 32 on the season for a new single-season record. On the mound, Sawyer Duarte got the start and pitched well over four innings, allowing only two runs on a pair of hits with two strikeouts. Freddy Mosier (1-1) took the loss in relief.

Jack Rich, Claiborn and Noah Plantamuro paced the Warriors with three hits apiece, while as a team they hit three home runs for the second-straight game. Tommy Benincaso (6-0) earned the win to stay perfect on the season, giving up four runs (two earned) on seven hits over 7.2 innings of work.