The Middlebury baseball team dropped a pair of contests on Saturday in NCAA Regional action to close out its season. The Panthers fell 13-6 in the first game to #9 Kean before losing 4-3 against #19 Cortland in the nightcap.
 
HIGHLIGHTS VS. KEAN

• The Cougars struck with five runs in the bottom of the initial frame. CJ Tomalavage ripped a one-out double to plate the first tally. Brett Hilsheimer smacked a two-RBI double down the left-field line and John Chiusano followed with a single up the middle that scored a pair for a 5-0 advantage.
• The Panthers sliced the deficit to four (5-1) in the third when Carter Chi laced a one-out roundtripper that tucked inside the left-field foul pole.
• Kean scored a pair of tallies in the home half of the frame on back-to-back RBI singles by Nick Sellari and Dominic Masino for an 8-1 lead.
• In the fourth, Middlebury pulled to within five. Nathan Samii ripped a leadoff double to left center and scored on a Cougar fielding error. Brayden Mathews pushed across Ben Slaughter on a base knock through the right side.
• The hosts saw their advantage swell to six (9-3) in the bottom of the frame when Hilsheimer doubled to right center to plate Dan Reistle.
• Kean posted a run in the sixth when Tyler Stone scored on a fielder's choice and Kyle Adorno singled through the right side a frame later to make it 11-3.
• Middlebury cut the deficit to six (11-5) in the top of the eighth. Mathews knocked in Samii with a single to left field and Pablo Spielman-Rodriquez's sacrifice fly sent Slaughter home.
• The Cougars tacked on a pair of unearned runs in their half of the inning to increase their lead to 13-5.
• Joe Basso led off with a roundtripper in the ninth, trying to get a comeback rally going for the Panthers, but Kean recorded three-straight outs to secure the 13-6 victory and advance to Sunday's final round.

HIGHLIGHTS VS. CORTLAND

• The Red Dragons jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in their first at-bat. A sac fly from Luke Schartner sent Talon Elkins across the plate, before Chris Bonacci touched home when Adam Mieczkowski reached on an error.
• Middlebury cut the deficit in half (2-1) in the top of the third when Owen Fox belted a homer over the fence in left field.
• With two outs on the board in the top of the sixth, Mathews singled up the middle to drive in Kyle McCausland who doubled earlier. Will Ashley followed, plugging the gap between first and third to plate Samii for the 3-2 edge.
• Cortland responded in its half of the inning as Bonacci took advantage of a throwing error and scampered home to knot the contest at 3-3.
• The Panthers tried to break the tie in their next opportunity. With two outs, Aiden Han perfectly placed a bunt down the third-base line and McCausland followed with a single to center, but reliever Nick Hanson was able to strike out his first batter faced to strand the pair of Middlebury players.
• The Panthers looked to put together a rally in the eighth. Slaughter drew a leadoff walk and Cooper Bohlig was inserted as a pinch runner. Mathews moved Bohlig to second a sac bunt and Bohlig raced to third on a wild pitch, but Hanson worked a strikeout to end the frame.
• The Red Dragons took the lead for good in the eighth, as Schartner tallied a two-out infield single to plate Bonacci to secure the 4-3 victory.

NOTES

• Samii was a combined 4-for-7 in the two contests with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. The Panther moved into second place in the career record books with 44 doubles. 
• Chi's homer against Kean was his second in the last four games and third roundtripper this spring.
• Mathews produced four hits on the day (4-for-7) with three RBI.
• McCausland added to his career-leading total with his 45th two-base hit in a Middlebury uniform.
• The Panthers and Kean played for the first time in baseball. Middlebury and the Red Dragons met for the second time in as many days with each side winning once in the first two meetings between the programs.

Middlebury closed its season with a 28-13 record and won its second-straight NESCAC Championship.