The Middlebury baseball team tallied a series sweep over Williams in NESCAC West play over the weekend. The program earned an 11-10 victory in 11 innings before earning 11-9 and 12-10 triumphs in games two and three. The opening game of the series was completed on Saturday morning due to darkness. With the sweep, head coach Mike Leonard earned his 300th career victory.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers got on the board in the first inning. Aiden Han ripped a one-out single and later scored on a bases-loaded walk by Anthony Pellagrini for a 1-0 lead.
• The Ephs answered with three tallies in the bottom of the frame. Henry Juan had a two-run base hit to center and Ryan Nakajima smoked an RBI single to make it 3-1.
• Williams increased its advantage to three (4-1) in the third on a sacrifice fly from Nakajima.
• Middlebury tied the contest in the fourth with three runs, highlighted by a run-scoring double from Nathan Samii for a 4-4 contest.
• The hosts regained the edge with two tallies in the fifth, grabbing a 6-4 lead on a Nakajima base knock.
• The Panthers drew even (6-6) in their next at-bat on sac flies from McCausland and Gus Parker.
• Marcus Burrell II gave Williams a one-run advantage (7-6) in the bottom of the stanza with an RBI single up the middle.
• Middlebury rallied again, scoring four runs over the seventh and eighth innings for a 10-7 lead. Samii capped the span with his second run-scoring double of the contest.
• Williams responded with three tallies in the eighth, highlighted by a single by Burrell II to deadlock the contest at 10-10.
• The Ephs threatened to walk it off in the bottom of the tenth on Saturday morning. With a pair of runners on,  Swank looked to plate Asanovic with a single up the middle. Parker caught Asanovic on a clean throw to Slaughter at the plate, who applied the tag to deny Williams.
• The hosts still had a chance in the inning with a runner on second and two outs, but Dylan Knightly forced a strikeout to send the game to the 11th.
• After a single by Han, McCausland roped an RBI double to right center to take an 11-10 edge.
• Knightly slammed the door shut in the bottom half, striking out the side to secure the one-run victory.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Middlebury took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second, as Joe Basso crossed the plate on a balk and Pablo Spielman-Rodriquez brought home Parker with an RBI single down the right field line.
• Samii pushed the lead to 3-0 after tallying a double and scoring on two Ephs' miscues on the same play.
• Williams rallied in the bottom of the third with five scores, highlighted by a three-run homer from Anthony Lods for a 5-3 edge.
• The hosts added three tallies with run-scoring hits from Juan, Luca Lopetrone and Nakajima to build an 8-3 cushion.
• Middlebury chipped away at the deficit in the top of the sixth. After Parker opened the inning with a hit-by-pitch, Spielman-Rodriquez blasted a roundtripper over the left-field fence to make it 8-5. Following the homer, Samii plated Will Ashley with a sacrifice fly to right and Han scored on a Williams' throwing error to cut the lead to 8-7.
• Carter Chi tied the contest (8-8) in the visitor's half of the seventh with an RBI single to the pitcher.
• The Panthers retook the lead in the top of the eighth. With one out, pinch-hitter Isaac Rosario smacked a two-run base knock to left field and Spielman-Rodriquez brought home Slaughter with his third hit of the contest to make the score 11-8.
• Williams pushed one run across the plate in the bottom half but could not get any closer as Middlebury claimed the 11-9 victory.

GAME THREE HIGHLIGHTS

• The visitors grabbed a 1-0 edge in the top of the second with Spielman-Rodriquez scoring on a wild pitch.
• Williams took the lead in the bottom half on an RBI single by Sasha Palma, and Nakajima crossed the plate on a fielder's choice to make the score 2-1.
• McCausland knotted the contest at 2-2 on a run-scoring base knock up the middle.
• In the top of the third, Samii jacked a leadoff homer to left field to put the Panthers in front, 3-2. Middlebury was not done with roundtrippers in the inning, as Slaughter launched a two-run blast to right center to extend the cushion to three.
• The guests added to their lead in the next inning, ripping off four more runs to extend the lead to 9-2. 
• Williams began to whittle away at the deficit, tallying four runs of their own to cut the deficit to three (9-6). 
• McCausland sparked another offensive surge in the top of the sixth with the team's third home run of the game to stretch the lead back to five (11-6). Rosario added to the scoreboard with an RBI single for the team's 12th run of the contest.
• The home team continued to battle back. A run-scoring base hit by Nakajima capped four consecutive tallies to push the Panthers' cushion down to 12-10.
• Williams brought the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs, but Nico Tambascia recorded a groundout to third to clinch the series sweep.

NOTES

• Samii led the charge on offense, going 7-for-15 with six runs batted in and seven runs scored. He also passed the 100 career hit plateau and now sits at 105 in a Panther uniform.
• McCausland tallied eight RBI and forced five walks over the series.
• The Panthers have won 10 of the last 12 matchups dating back to the start of 2022.

The Panthers return to action on Monday when they travel to Amherst at 4:00 p.m. to wrap up the NESCAC West series with the Mammoths. The Panthers won the opener on March 28 by a 5-3 tally, while Amherst evened the series with an 8-4 triumph in seven innings the next day.