The Middlebury baseball team opened its spring trip with a Sunday doubleheader against #23 California Lutheran University. The Panthers tallied a 5-4 triumph in game one before falling 16-6 in the nightcap.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Middlebury posted the first run of the game. Will Ashley plated Kyle McCausland with an RBI double to right field for a 1-0 lead.
• Cal Lutheran knotted the contest at 1-1 in the bottom of the third. Wyatt Crosby opened the inning with a single and later scored on a double to right-center field by Alec Garcia.
• Anthony Pellagrini gave the Panthers the lead back (2-1) in the fifth inning, crossing home plate on McCausland's double down the left-field line.
• The Knightsmen tied the game in the bottom half, as Lucas Danielewicz scored on a wild pitch.
• Middlebury broke through in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded and two outs. Ashley smacked a triple to right center to score Brian Olson and McCausland to take a 4-2 lead. Owen Fox followed Ashley's triple with an RBI single to right field to give the Panthers a 5-2 advantage.
• Cal Lutheran fought back with a sacrifice fly by Sebastian Smith and Garcia scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 5-4.
• The Knightsmen put the pressure on in the bottom of the ninth. A walk and a hit by pitch put the game-tying run in scoring position. Charlie Kutz struck out consecutive batters and forced a pop out to second base to seal the save and the victory.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• McCausland opened the scoring in the first for the Panthers, crossing the plate on a single to left center by Fox.
• Cal Lutheran countered with four runs in the bottom half, highlighted by RBI doubles by Zach Gardner and Carlos Vega to take a 4-1 lead.
• Fox cut the lead to 4-2 with his second run-scoring single of the contest.
• Gardner extended the Knightsmen lead in the bottom of the fourth with his second double of the contest, plating Danielewicz and Garcia for a 6-2 score.
• The Panthers chipped away at the deficit in the sixth. Olson brought home Ben Slaughter with an RBI single to center. Brayden Mathews and Olson scampered home on a wild pitch and passed ball to close the gap to 6-5.
• The Kingsmen pulled away in the bottom half with 10 runs to build a 16-5 lead. 
• Middlebury scored the contest's final run when Forrest Nelson launched his first homer as a Panther to left field.

NOTES

• In game one, McCausland finished a home run short of the cycle, tallying three hits and a walk in four plate appearances. His six total hits over the two games moved him to third in the career ranks with 164.
• Kutz pitched 2.1 innings of no-hit baseball for his first collegiate save.
• Middlebury and Cal Lutheran met for the fourth and fifth times with the Panthers holding a 4-1 edge in the all-time series.

The two teams close their three-game series on Monday with the first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET.