The Middlebury baseball team began its slate on Saturday with a sweep of Colby-Sawyer in an ultra-rare February doubleheader in Vermont. The Panthers earned an 11-0 shutout in the first bout before securing an 8-5 decision in the nightcap.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• Rookie pitcher Hank Lloyd cruised through his first inning in the navy and white, notching his initial strikeout in a three-up, three-down frame. The hosts got to work in the bottom half as Henry Ayers scored Aiden Han from second with a triple before completing his trip on the basepaths on an error to build a 2-0 lead.
• Middlebury widened the margin to 3-0 in the third frame when Gus Parker provided a looping RBI single that fell between the Charger middle infielders, scoring Will Ashley from third after his double early in the stanza.
• Colby-Sawyer applied pressure in the fourth, drawing a pair of two-out walks, but Lloyd induced a grounder that led to the final out and kept the visitors off the board.
• Sam Gersch led off a productive fourth inning with a well-struck base hit up the middle and a swipe of second. Carter Chi reached on a defensive miscue before consecutive run-scoring base knocks by Brayden Mathews and Aiden Han established a 5-0 lead.
• The Panther carousel whirled into motion in the final two innings as the hosts tacked on six more runs to secure the 11-0 win.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• After a pair of hitless frames, Colby-Sawyer got the wheels turning in the top of the third. Jacob Putnam dumped a single into left center before Mike McLeer doubled down the left-field line, putting two in scoring position. Middlebury hurler Emmet George coaxed a critical swing and miss to escape the inning.
• The Panthers pushed their initial run across in the bottom of the third. JD Collins led off with a single before swiping second and third, and Han drove him in with a screamer to first that bounded down the line. Middlebury batted around in the frame, adding three more runs on two plunked batters and a trio of fielder's choice plays to lead 4-0.
• With the bases loaded in the home half of the fourth, Andrew Baay uncorked a ball into the left-center gap that plated a pair and moved Anthony Pellagrini to third, who scored on a passed ball to extend the margin to 7-0.
• The sides traded one-run stanzas before the Chargers vaulted back within three in the sixth. Putnam wore a pitch on the arm with the bases loaded to bring Sean Roeger in from third. Dylan Watson followed with a bases-clearing double that set up the 8-5 score. 
• Entering a potential save situation, Stefano Yozzo twirled a five-out gem with three punchouts to finalize the affair.

NOTES

• Han went 4-for-8 and plated two runs across the doubleheader.
• Baay drove in a trio of Panthers in the second contest.
• Lloyd tallied his first collegiate victory in game one, allowing just one hit while fanning five.
• Yozzo moved into fourth in program history with his fifth career save.
• Saturday marked the 11th and 12th meetings between the sides, with Middlebury owning a 9-3 advantage in the all-time series.

The Panthers will travel to Atlanta, Georgia for a weekend series against Emory, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 7. The first pitch of game one is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.