The Middlebury baseball team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to secure a 5-3 victory during the opening contest of the best-of-three NESCAC Quarterfinals before dropping a 6-2 result in the nightcap. The programs will meet Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. with a berth to NESCAC Championship Weekend on the line.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Henry Fleckner gave the Jumbos a 1-0 edge with a leadoff home run over the left-field wall.
• The Panthers threatened in the bottom half, putting runners on the corners with two outs. Tufts' right-hander Silas Reed forced a groundout to second to keep the lead.
• AJ Lysko extended the visitors' lead to a pair (2-0) during the fourth, plating Owen McKiernan on a triple down the right-field line.
• Tufts added a tally an inning later on a sacrifice fly to right by James Henshon. The Jumbos looked for more with two outs and the bases loaded, but Kyle McCausland caught a carrying fly ball on the right-field warning track.
• Middlebury chipped away at the deficit in the bottom of the fifth. Will Ashley smoked a solo roundtripper to left field for the first run, while Carter Chi followed with a home run that curved inside the left-field foul pole to make it 3-2.
• The hosts broke through in the bottom of the seventh with one out. Brayden Mathews smoked an RBI double to right center to knot the contest at 3-3. Middlebury was not done in the inning, as Aiden Han and McCausland crossed home plate on a single through the left side by Ben Slaughter, giving the Panthers a 5-3 advantage.
• Tufts brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth, but Dylan Knightly induced an inning-ending double play to keep the visitors off the board.
• The Jumbos looked to stay alive during their final at-bat. Ben Leonard tallied a walk and Henshon ripped a base-knock to left field. Stefano Yozzo slammed the door shut as Cooper Smith flew out to center field to seal the two-run victory.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• McCausland put Middlebury on top to begin the contest in the home half of the initial stanza, lifting a two-run roundtripper over the left-center wall for a 2-0 edge.
• Tufts answered in the second with a single through the left side by Fleckner that drove in a pair, tying the contest at two apiece.
• The Jumbos grabbed the lead in their next at-bat with a two-out rally. Jesse McCollough brought home Connor Brala and McKiernan with an RBI base knock down the right-field line to gain a 4-2 lead.
• Lysko tallied a run-scoring double that landed just fair down the line in left a frame later to make it 5-2.
• The visitors tacked on an insurance tally in the eighth via a two-base knock to left field by Smith.
• Middlebury put runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom half, but Connor Podeszwa induced a flyout to seal the 6-2 victory.

NOTES

• Chi blasted his first career home run in game one, while Ashley had a team-best four hits over the doubleheader.
• Knightly tallied the victory in the first contest. He threw two innings of no-hit baseball over the seventh and eighth frames.
• The programs met for the 51st and 52nd times.

Middlebury and Tufts meet in the rubber match on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. The winner moves on to the NESCAC Championship double-elimination weekend starting on Friday at Bowdoin.