The Middlebury baseball team, the second seed in the NESCAC West, has advanced to the NESCAC Championship Weekend, hosted by Trinity. The Panthers open the three-day, double-elimination series against the East's top seed in Tufts on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

ABOUT MIDDLEBURY

• Middlebury has advanced to the championship weekend in all nine of its conference tournament appearances.
• The team pursues its fourth league title in the last five seasons and fifth in program history.
• The Panthers took two of three against Bowdoin on Friday and Saturday to secure a spot in the championship tournament.
• Middlebury boasts the top spots in numerous offensive categories, including batting average (.324), doubles (86), triples (16), on-base percentage (.417) and slugging percentage (.498). The squad slots second in home runs (28) and total bases (580), while holding third in hits (378) and runs (277).
• The navy and white pitching staff paces the conference with four shutouts. The .258 batting average against conceded by the group is the second-best mark in the NESCAC.

PANTHERS TO WATCH

• The first-year tandem of Henry Ayers and Sam Gersch continues to spearhead the NESCAC in a slew of offensive areas. Ayers' .481 batting average leads the league alongside top spots in hits (65), total bases (94), slugging percentage (.696) and a 1.206 on-base plus slugging (OPS).
• Gersch ranks second on the squad and third in the conference with a .429 batting average. He has logged 14 multi-hit outings, including all three quarterfinal contests against Bowdoin. His 22 stolen bases slot fourth among league peers.
• Joe Basso's .371 average is good for third among his teammates. The junior went 2-for-5 in the win-or-go-home game versus the Polar Bears, logging a double and a home run to plate three runs while scoring twice.
• Anthony Pellagrini has hammered a squad-best six home runs this season, including the decisive three-run moonshot in the opening game of the NESCAC quarterfinal series.
• Christian Zebrowski and Chase Zidlicky have headlined the arms in recent weeks. Zebrowski's 6-0 record is the best among Panther pitchers, while he shares the top spot in strikeouts with Emmet George (40). Zidlicky has served as Middlebury's top innings getter, logging 48.1 frames of work with a 5.21 earned-run average (ERA) and 37 punchouts.
• Dylan Knightly and Stefano Yozzo combine for 58.0 innings on the bump to bolster the bullpen. Yozzo's 4.70 ERA is third among pitchers with 30 or more innings of work, while Knightly follows close behind at 4.94.

ABOUT TUFTS

• The Jumbos rank third among league foes in multiple categories, including triples (13), roundtrippers (22), total bases (508) and slugging percentage (.444). Tufts owns the conference's best fielding percentage (.974) and ranks second with 892 putouts.
• On the mound, the Jumbos have thrived in 2026. The squad touts the lowest ERA in the conference (4.09) and has surrendered 26 fewer free passes than the next-best team (101). Tufts is tied with Colby for first in batting average against at .252.

JUMBOS TO WATCH

• Jack Kamin sits atop the Jumbo batters in average (.441), hits (56), runs scored (38) and RBI (36). He logged a pair of singles in the close-out game against Hamilton, driving in two runs while crossing the plate twice.
• Tate Bannish and James Henshon have delivered power in the middle of the lineup. Bannish has sent a team-high five pitches over the wall while adding 10 doubles and a trio of triples. Henshon's 20 extra-base hits are the most of any Tufts hitter. His 11 two-baggers and six triples pace the Jumbos.
• Cole Donato owns a 2.24 ERA over nine starts, good for the second-lowest mark behind Amherst's Saahi Jetti's 2.12. He has earned a 7-1 record, allowing just 14 earned runs over his 56.1 innings and fanning 53 batters against 17 walks.
• Enhancing the rotation has been Emmet Christian. The sophomore sports a pair of complete-game efforts and is tied for the NESCAC's third-best batting average against (.211).

SERIES HISTORY

• The programs meet for the 51st time and the 17th in the league bracket. Tufts owns a 33-18 advantage.
• Middlebury and Tufts last met in the 2025 NESCAC Quarterfinals when the Panthers took two of three en route to the conference title.
• The Jumbos have taken 10 of the 17 tournament clashes.

ABOUT AMHERST

• Amherst pursues its sixth league crown as the top seed in the West for the first time since 2021, when it last won the NESCAC.
• The Mammoths bounced back from a 3-2 loss to Colby in the quarterfinal round to win 3-0 and 3-2 on Saturday and punch their ticket to championship weekend.
• A meeting would be the 78th between the Panthers and Amherst and just the third in the conference tournament. Middlebury claimed a 14-8 win in the 2022 semifinals, while Amherst prevailed in game three of the 2011 NESCAC Championship.
• Charlie LaFreniere and Tyler McCord have been the top Mammoth hitters. LaFreniere's batting average of .391 is the fourth-best in the league, while McCord slots seventh at .371 and has 11 doubles this season.
• In addition to boasting the NESCAC's best ERA, Jetti has worked five complete games and a conference-best 63.2 frames of work. He holds hitters to a stifling .189 clip and has set 65 batters down on strikes.

ABOUT TRINITY

• The Bantams have won the league on four occasions and hope to end a 14-year title drought after earning the two seed in the East.
• In the quarterfinal round, Trinity sandwiched a 7-1 loss to Wesleyan with 11-3 and 12-2 triumphs to advance to the final weekend of competition.
• The Bantams and Panthers would battle for the 35th time and the third in the conference postseason. Middlebury has nine wins in the series, but is 3-0 against the Bantams in NESCAC Tournament play, including a 5-4 victory in the 2025 semifinals.
• Aidan Stern is positioned fourth in the league with an OPS of 1.090 and resides in the top 10 in batting average (.368). Trinity has several other players over the .300 mark, including Tyler Bernstein (.348), Aidan Stevenson (.342), Timmy Domizio (.333) and Dylan Schnitzer (.308).
• The duo of Tyler Fahey and Andrew Oppenheimer has led the Bantam staff. Fahey's 2.89 ERA is sixth among league peers and shares third in the NESCAC in batting average against (.211), while Oppenheimer owns a 3.80 ERA.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

• With quarterfinal action complete, the winners qualify for the NESCAC Baseball Championship. Trinity serves as the host of the three-day double-elimination tournament.
• Championship Central
• NESCAC Championship Records

The winner of the conference tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The full field will be announced on Sunday, May 10.