The Middlebury baseball team scored 10 runs in the first two innings, including seven in the second, on its way to a 12-4 triumph in the opening game of the NESCAC Championship weekend. Pitcher Owen Tross tossed the first complete game of his career to earn the win on the mound.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers struck first with three runs in the opening inning. Beau Root legged out an infield single and Mitchell Schroeder walked before the pair scored on a misplayed ball in the outfield off the bat of Baker Angstman for a 2-0 lead. Angstman reached third base on the Jumbo miscue and later raced home on a single to center field from Andrew Ashley for a 3-0 edge.
• Tufts responded with a run in the top of the second. Cooper Smith started the two-out rally with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Smith raced around to score on an RBI base hit to center by Connor Flavin to pull within 3-1.
• Middlebury exploded for seven runs in the second. The Panthers loaded the bases with nobody out as Lucas Flemming singled, David Byrne was hit by a pitch and Root walked. Kyle McCausland followed with a deep single to left for a 4-1 advantage before Byrne touched home on a Jumbo miscue. Angstman ripped a two-run knock for a 7-1 lead, Nathan Samii plated a pair on a base hit to left before Flemming made it 10-1 on an RBI single to right.
• Tross continued the momentum in the top of the third, sending the Jumbos down in order.
• Tufts moved to within seven (10-3) in the fifth on a two-run single up the middle from Fleckner, plating Smith who walked and Ozzie Fleischer who beat out an infield base hit.
• The hosts added a single tally in the sixth when Jesse Mccullough induced a base on balls and scampered around to score on a double down the line in left field by Malcolm Whitfield to make it 10-4.
• Middlebury added a run in the seventh on an opposite-field hit by Byrne and capped the scoring an inning later as Angstman drove in pinch runner Cooper Bohlig on a single to center for the final 12-4 triumph.

NOTES

• Tross improved to 6-3 overall, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out a pair. The six wins by Tross this season are tied for second in the program's record books.
• With two stolen bases today, Root remains perfect on the basepaths at 21-for-21. He also scored a pair of runs, giving him 46, the second-best total in a season.
• Angstman went 3-for-5 at the plate and tied his career high with three RBI.
• The Panthers are making their seventh appearance in the NESCAC Tournament and picked up their 20th victory (20-10) in conference postseason action.
• The Middlebury defense aided Tross in the triumph, turning four double plays behind him in the field. 
• The Panthers earned their 28th victory this spring (28-10), marking the second-most triumphs in program history.
• The programs played for the 49th time in a series in which the Jumbos hold a 32-17 advantage.
• Middlebury and Tufts squared off for the 15th time in the NESCAC Tournament with the Jumbos holding a narrow 8-7 advantage. 

With Friday's win in the double-elimination tournament, the Panthers face Colby on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.