The Middlebury baseball team returns to the diamond on March 4 when it travels to Alabama for opening weekend. In 2022, the Panthers had their best season in school history, claiming the program's second NESCAC Championship and advancing to the regional final of the NCAA Tournament. Middlebury set a host of records last spring, including victories (31), games played (45), most hits (522), runs (426), doubles (106), triples (28), home runs (65), runs batted in (388), stolen bases (177) and number of opposing batters struck out (400). 

The Panthers return nearly their entire roster from a year ago. John Collins was named a D3baseball.com All-American, along with all-region and All-NESCAC praise. He blasted a school-record 14 home runs and recorded the second-best single-season hit total (59) in program history. Mitchell Schroeder led the NESCAC in batting for most of last season, finishing with a .483 batting average and a league-best 14 doubles. Schroeder earned CoSIDA Academic All-American honors, as well as D3baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings All-Region praise. Beau Root was right behind Collins with 56 hits a year ago, while also finishing second on the team with 45 runs scored and 28 stolen bases. 

Alec Ritch secured a spot on the region's second team as a utility player, taking the field as an outfielder and pitcher. Offensively, the NESCAC Player of the Year paced the Panthers, setting single-season records in runs scored (50), RBI (54), walks (32), stolen bases (41) and tying the mark for triples (5). On the mound, Ritch went 5-0 with 41 strikeouts in 53 innings and a complete game. He authored three wins during Middlebury's postseason run. Alex Price was the workhorse of the team's pitching staff, tying a school record with 12 starts. He compiled a 5-2 record and was third in the NESCAC with a 3.50 earned run average (ERA). Price set a program single-season record and topped the conference with 85 strikeouts. He logged a league-leading 64.1 innings and limited opposing batters to a .239 average. The All-NESCAC First-Team and NCAA Tournament All-Regional selection recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts against Hamilton. Cole Crider led the team last season with a 2.45 ERA, while striking out 23 batters. Alex Rosario was also in the mix last year, striking out 35 batters over 40.1 innings of work.

The Panthers are led by head coach Mike Leonard who enters his seventh season at the helm of the program. Leonard welcomes back assistant coaches Mike Phelps and Alex Harter.