The Middlebury baseball team accumulated a season-best 10 runs during Wednesday's second inning, pulling away for a 16-10 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers opened the scoring in the top of the first inning. Henry Ayers ripped a leadoff single through the left side and touched the plate when Andrew Baay legged out a base hit for a 1-0 lead.
• The hosts responded in the bottom half. Andrew Crux deposited a one-out single to left and scooted home on a double into left-center field by Michael Lebenson.
• Middlebury regained the advantage in the second, exploding for 10 runs on eight hits, highlighted by four homers, for an 11-1 advantage. 
• Aiden Han and Anthony Pellagrini each had solo blasts in the frame, while Alexander Glasscock plated Han with a two-run shot over the right-field fence. Sam Gersch punctuated the inning via his three-run round tripper. Joe Basso produced an RBI single midway through the inning.
• In the third, the Panthers increased their lead with five markers. Basso sparked the surge when he was hit by a pitch and later scored on a balk. Baay and Dominick DeMatteo laced run-producing singles, while Ayers pushed across a pair on a base knock up the middle.
• The Engineers cut the deficit to 14 (16-2) in the bottom of the stanza when Crux singled and took advantage of a Middlebury miscue to tally an unearned run.
• RPI continued to chip away, touching the plate five more times a frame later. The hosts were the recipients of three walks with the bases loaded, while a Charlie Morse infield single and a Panther error aided the rally for a 16-7 score.
• The red and white made it a 16-10 contest in their next at-bat. Lebenson hit an RBI double to right and Ben Belliss added a two-run homer to left center. 
• Neither side produced scoring chances over the final few innings, as the Middlebury pitching duo of Reed Hyde and Stefano Yozzo combined to hurl the final three frames and allowed one hit en route to the victory. 

NOTES

• Each of the nine positional starters recorded a hit. Ayers (3-for-6, 2R, 2 RBI) and Han (3-for-6, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI) each had a trio of base knocks, while Gersch and Baay finished with two apiece.
• The 10 runs are the most scored since the program recorded 12 in the seventh frame in a NESCAC Tournament Quarterfinal win over Trinity during the 2024 campaign.
• The programs played for the 62nd time since 1907 with the Panthers holding a 35-27 advantage in the all-time series. Middlebury has won the last 10 matchups.

The Panthers return to NESCAC West action on Friday when they travel to Hamilton for a 4:00 p.m. first pitch.