Middlebury College

The Middlebury baseball team rallied after an 8-5 setback in game two of the NESCAC Quarterfinals, logging 19 hits to power a 16-10 victory in the third contest and punch their ticket to the conference's championship weekend.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• The Polar Bears opened the scoring in the top of the third. Will Cooke tallied a leadoff single up the middle before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt and a Wim Nook base knock. A couple of pitches later, Will Logue blasted a three-run homer over the left field wall to give the visitors a 3-0 lead. Lukas Tsai brought home the fourth run of the frame with a broken bat single to left center.
• Middlebury cut into the deficit in its next at-bats. Anthony Pellagrini worked a base on balls and Sam Gersch forced a two-out walk. Henry Ayers plated Pellagrini and Gersch with a single on a full count to make it 4-2.
• Bowdoin rebuilt a four-run advantage (6-2) during the fourth. With two outs, Logue dunked a triple into right field to bring home a pair.
• The Panthers added two more tallies in the home half. Pablo Spielman-Rodriguez opened the frame with a walk before Andrew Baay pushed him to third on a double down the right-field line. Brian Olson brought both runners home with a two-bagger in the right center gap.
• Middlebury made it a 6-5 contest on a Joe Basso RBI groundout to third during the bottom of the fifth.
• Logue logged an inning-opening single to center field before stealing second and third base. Reliever Stefano Yozzo settled in, striking out Bordes and forcing a lineout to left to keep the deficit at one.
• Bowdoin added key insurance during their final at-bats. Nook blasted a triple off the right-center wall and scored on a line drive single to the outfield from Liam Foley. A Panther miscue added a second tally for an 8-5 advantage.
• The Panthers brought the game-tying run to the plate in the bottom half, but Alex Saavedra induced a groundout to first base to seal the three-run triumph.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• After a 1-2-3 opening frame by starter Alex Faust, the Panther offense grabbed a 3-0 lead during the bottom half. With runners on second and third with two outs, Basso brought them around with a double to right. Two batters later, Will Ashley belted an RBI single to score Basso.
• Middlebury loaded the bases with two outs in the third, but Rudy Gately induced a shallow pop-up to quell the scoring chance.
• The Polar Bears searched for a spark during the fourth frame. Foley was plunked before a single by Tsai and a walk from Will Cooke loaded the bags. JD Collins raced into the right-center gap to deny Finn Cahill of extra bases and keep the 3-0 lead.
• The hosts pushed two more runs across during the bottom half, extending the advantage to 5-0. Pellagrini came home on a sacrifice fly to right center by Ayers, while Spielman-Rodriguez plated Gersch with a base knock up the middle.
• In the sixth inning, Bowdoin continued to knock on the door. Bordes and Tsai opened the stanza with consecutive singles. Faust flipped the lock with a strikeout, flyout to right center and a groundout to third base. 
• The navy and white saw the lead swell in the seventh. Basso uncorked a mammoth solo homer over the left-field wall, and Pellagrini followed the trend on a two-run roundtripper two batters later. 
• Later in the inning, Collins placed a double in the left-center gap, and Gersch followed with a base knock. Ayers brought the duo home on a triple down the right-field line and later scored on a Bowdoin miscue to close a six-run frame and make it 11-0. 
• Collins added to the scoring an inning later, extending the lead to 15-0 after lifting a towering grand slam over the left field wall. The 16th marker came when Forrest Nelson plated Dominick DeMatteo with a sac fly to left center.
• Bowdoin put in a massive final push during its last at-bats with 10 runs, but Christian Zebrowski tallied a strikeout to cap the win and send the Panthers to the NESCAC Championship Weekend.

NOTES

• Ayers and Gersch combined for nine hits, six runs and five RBI over the two-game slate. Gersch also went a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts.
• Collins logged his first career grand slam and a team-best four runs batted in during the second contest.
• Faust twirled a gem in the decisive third game, logging six innings of five-hit baseball. He also had five strikeouts and walked only two.
• Middlebury's 15 runs batted in are the most in a NESCAC Tournament game in school history.
• The navy and white have won a conference quarterfinal series for the fifth campaign in a row.
• The programs met for the 39th and 40th times. The Panthers have won three of the last five matchups. 

The Panthers advance to next weekend's double-elimination edition of NESCAC Championship Weekend hosted by Trinity. Middlebury kicks off competition on Friday at 1:30 p.m. against Tufts.