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BenSlaughter25Wesleyan
Will Costello
Ben Slaughter tallied a career-best four runs batted in.
5
Tufts TUFTS 16-21
9
Winner Middlebury MIDBASE 24-11
Tufts TUFTS
16-21
5
Final
9
Middlebury MIDBASE
24-11
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tufts TUFTS 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 7 0
Middlebury MIDBASE 1 0 1 0 3 0 4 0 X 9 15 4

W: Knightly, Dylan (3-0) L: D. Desmarais (3-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Slaughter’s Seventh-Inning Homer Propels Middlebury To 9-5 Triumph Over Tufts

Middlebury's Ben Slaughter came up clutch on Sunday, smacking a two-run homer to left-center field in the seventh inning to break a 5-5 tie and lead the Panthers to a 9-5 victory over Tufts in game three of the NESCAC Quarterfinals. With the win, the team moves on to the conference's double-elimination championship weekend set to begin on Friday at Bowdoin.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • The Jumbos opened the contest with a pair of runs. Ben Leonard plated Henry Fleckner with an RBI double into right-center and later came around to score on a groundout from Cooper Smith to make it 2-0.
  • Middlebury cut the deficit in half (2-1) in the bottom of the inning as Kyle McCausland came home on a single up the middle by Nathan Samii.
  • In the third stanza, the Panthers tied the contest at two off the bat of Samii, who plated Carter Chi with his second base knock.
  • The Jumbos threatened with runners on the corners and one out in the fifth, but Charlie Kutz induced a double play to keep the game knotted at 2-2.
  • Middlebury broke the tie in the bottom half. McCausland started the scoring with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 3-2. After Samii tallied his third single of the afternoon, Slaughter smoked an RBI double down the left-field line to push the cushion to three (5-2).
  • Tufts rallied back during the seventh, tallying three runs to knot the contest at 5-5. 
  • The Panthers came alive during the bottom half of the stanza. With two outs, Samii smacked a double down the right field line. Slaughter came up clutch in the next at-bat, lifting a two-run roundtripper to left center to push the home squad ahead by two (7-5).
  • Middlebury was not finished in the inning, as Gus Parker plated pinch runner Cooper Bohlig with an RBI single. Will Ashley capped the scoring by crossing home plate after a pitch hit Chi to give the Panthers a four-run cushion.
  • The Jumbos looked to chip away at the deficit, putting two runners on in the top of the eighth. Reliever Stefano Yozzo stopped the bid, inducing a flyout to center.
  • Yozzo returned to the mound in the ninth and retired the side in order to punch the Panthers' ticket to NESCAC Championship weekend.

NOTES

  • Samii led the offensive charge for Middlebury, going 5-for-5 with two RBI. His five hits are tied for the second-most in a game in program history.
  • Slaughter tallied a career-best four runs batted in.
  • The Panthers earned their 20th victory in the all-time series against the Jumbos.

Middlebury advances to the double-elimination NESCAC Championship weekend, which begins on Friday, May 9 at Bowdoin.

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