The Middlebury baseball team downed Trinity in the opening round of the NESCAC Championships. The Panthers claimed the first game 14-7, before rallying past the Bantams in a 13-12 slugfest. With the doubleheader sweep, Middlebury advances to the second round of the NESCAC playoffs, hosted by Colby next weekend.  
GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers struck first in the opening frame. Beau Root and Alec Ritch each singled to begin the contest, and moved up a base on a groundout from John Collins. Kyle McCausland ripped a single up the middle to drive both in and give Middlebury a 2-0 lead.
• Trinity got on the board in the top of the sixth. With the bases loaded, Jack Matthews roped a ground ball to first. Root made the diving stop to get the out at first, but Tyler Bernstein was able to cross home plate to make it 2-1.
• The Panthers responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning. With runners on second and third, an infield hit from Sammy Smith plated Mitchell Schroeder before Nathan Samii flipped a base hit into right center to bring in Andrew Gough and make it 4-1. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, a sac fly from Ritch and a wild pitch gave Middlebury a 6-1 advantage.
• In the seventh, the Panthers took a seven-run lead (8-1) on a home run to deep center field by Smith.
• Middlebury made it 14-1 in the eighth. Ritch drove in Chris Borter with a single through the left side to get things going. Later in the inning, McCausland took the first pitch he saw and blasted it over the left field fence for a three-run homer to make it 12-1. Smith tripled and Samii doubled to plate two more runs and extend the lead to 14-1.
• The Bantams tacked on six runs in the final inning, but could not overcome the deficit as Middlebury hung on for the 14-7 win.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• Trinity jumped out to a 1-0 edge in the top of the first whenBernstein hit an infield dribbler that allowed Brandon Chow to scamper home. Middlebury answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame. The hosts loaded the bases and Schroeder plopped a single into right field to level the score, before Gough and Stolper each followed by drawing walks to bring the score to 3-1.
• The Bantams regained the lead in the fifth when Mathews singled through the left side to plate a run before Patrick Dillon drove a three-run homer that tucked just inside the left field foul pole for a 5-3 lead.
• In the bottom half, the Panthers restored their lead. With two aboard, McCausland crushed a three run round-tripper over the flagpole in center field to make it 6-5. Middlebury would add one more run on an RBI groundout from Jack Stolper to take a 7-5 edge.
• Trinity responded with four runs in the sixth capped by a single from Colin Mann that drove in Mathews and gave the Bantams a 9-7 advantage. 
• Just as they did in the fifth, the Panthers stormed back into the lead with a three run homer, this time by Collins to give Middlebury a 10-9 advantage.
• Trinity regained the lead in the seventh with two runs to make it 11-10.
• The Bantams' lead was short-lived, as Gough led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a solo homer to level the score, and Stolper crossed home on a wild pitch to take a 12-11 lead.
• Trinity would not go away as Andrew Thomas Park led off the eighth with a blast over the right field fence that tied the contest once again (12-12).
• In the bottom half of the inning,McCausland came up clutch, belting his second home run of the game to deep left field to give Middlebury a 13-12 advantage that they would see out for the series victory. 

NOTES

• Smith's triple in game one was the 11th of his career which ties him for the most in Middlebury history. 
• McCausland was dominant throughout both games of the doubleheader. The outfielder contributed five hits, five runs, three homers and nine RBIs.
• With the victory in the first game, Alex Price picked up his 16th win which is second-most in the Panther record books. He also started his 28th career game which is tied for second in Middlebury history. 

 Middlebury will travel to Colby next weekend to take part in the NESCAC second round beginning on May 12.