Middlebury baseball pitcher Emmet George struck out a career-best nine batters over five innings of work, helping the Panthers to a 7-1 triumph over Williams on Saturday. With the victory, Middlebury booked its spot in the NESCAC Championship series. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers opened the scoring in the third inning. Gus Parker worked a leadoff walk and trotted home on a two-run blast down the left-field line by Brayden Mathews for a 2-0 advantage.
• Middlebury increased its lead to 3-0 a frame later. Pablo Spielman-Rodriquez drew a base on balls and later scored on an Eph throwing error. 
• Williams pulled within a pair (3-1) in the fifth. Oliver Rey walked and advanced on a passed ball and a throwing miscue before scoring on a balk.
• In the eighth, the Panthers extended their cushion with three tallies. Will Ashley reached on an error and Mathews walked. Both players moved up on a balk and scampered home on a single up the middle by Aiden Han for a 5-1 lead. Middlebury loaded the bases as Kyle McCausland was hit by a pitch and Nathan Samii walked. Ben Slaughter drew a base on balls to plate McCausland, making it a 6-1 contest.
• The Panthers added a run in their last at-bat. Parker ripped a one-out single to left and stole second before coming around to score on a fielder's choice and balk to push the lead to 7-1.
• Stefano Yozzo came on in relief in the bottom of the ninth, striking out a pair for the six-run triumph.

NOTES

• The roundtripper by Mathews was his first as a Panther.
• George allowed just three hits and an unearned run for his second win of the campaign.
• Jacob Sherf hurled three scoreless frames, tallying career-high totals in innings pitched (three) and strikeouts (six). He also appeared in his 18th contest this year, tying for third in the program's single-season record book.
• George, Sherf and Yozzo combined for 17 strikeouts, matching a season-best total.
• Middlebury has won 16 of its last 18 games, improving to 26-11 this spring.
• The programs played for the 140th in the all-time series. The Panthers have claimed 14 of the last 17 battles. Saturday's contest was just the second matchup in the NESCAC Tournament, as Middlebury secured an 8-2 triumph in the 2019 conference championship round.

The Panthers take the field on Sunday at 12:00 p.m., needing to win just once to earn the conference title. Middlebury will play the winner of the day's first contest between Williams and Colby.