The Middlebury baseball team erased an 11-1 deficit with 13 runs over the final five innings to prevail 14-11 in Friday's NESCAC Quarterfinal opener against Bowdoin.
Anthony Pellagrini delivered in the ninth with a three-run walk-off home run in his first plate appearance of the matchup to seal the victory.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The Polar Bears jumped ahead when Will Logue sent the first pitch of the contest over the left-field wall. Will Bordes followed with a double to left-center before consecutive walks loaded the bases. Finn Cahill wiped the bases clean with a two-bagger to left that established a 4-0 ballgame.
- The Panthers got on the board during the bottom of the second. Cooper Bohlig uncorked a one-out triple to right center and dashed home on an Aiden Han sacrifice fly to right, trimming the margin to three (4-1).
- Bowdoin added a three-spot in the fourth. Two infield singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Logue. A Middlebury miscue allowed the fifth run to come home, while Liam Foley followed with a two-run base hit to center field that made the score 7-1.
- In the ensuing frame, the Polar Bears extended their lead to 11-1. Cahill and Wim Nook logged infield singles, separated by a sacrifice bunt, before Logue doubled Cahill in to score in the next at-bat. Foley dropped a single into left field to plate Nook and Logue for the ninth and 10th runs for Bowdoin. A sacrifice fly from Lukas Tsai capped the scoring.
- A mammoth bottom half helped the navy and white trim the deficit. Han led off the session with a two-bagger to left before Will Ashley reached on an infield hit. Brayden Mathews launched a three-run shot to right center to wipe the bases clean and make the score 11-4.
- Sam Gersch and Henry Ayers maintained the momentum in the session with back-to-back base hits, while Pablo Spielman-Rodriguez laced a double to right field that scored the fifth Panther run. Andrew Baay smacked an RBI base knock to left and Cooper Bohlig uncorked a three-run blast to right that reduced the deficit to 11-9.
- The sixth inning went by quietly, but the visitors nearly scored a key insurance run in the top of the seventh. Will Cooke delivered a base hit with two runners on and Bordes dashed home, but Gersch fired a laser from right and Ayers applied the tag to deny the scoring bid.
- Spielman-Rodriguez legged out an infield base hit and swiped second shortly after to open the home portion. He moved up to third on a flyout before jogging home on a double from Han, bringing the hosts within one (11-10).
- In the bottom of the ninth, Spielman-Rodriguez started the engine with a leadoff single. He advanced a pair of bases on a wild pitch and groundout, and crossed the plate on a Bohlig two-bagger that hopped over the wall in center. Pellagrini stepped in for his first plate appearance later in the inning and launched a walk-off moonshot that snuck inside the left-field foul pole, finalizing the 14-11 Middlebury triumph.
NOTES
- Four Panthers tallied three hits in the triumph, headlined by Bohlig. The junior finished a single shy of the cycle, scoring a trio of runs while driving in four.
- Han finished a 2-for-3 day with a pair of doubles alongside two runs scored and two RBI.
- Mathews and Pellagrini each pushed three runs across in the win.
- Dylan Knightly and Christian Zebrowski combined to blank Bowdoin across the final four frames. Zebrowski improved to 6-0 on the hill, fanning four batters over the final three stanzas.
- Middlebury reached the 20-hit threshold as a team for the second time this season.
- The teams met for the 38th time.
Game two of the NESCAC Quarterfinal series is set for an 11:00 a.m. start on Saturday from the Baseball and Softball Complex.Â
