The Middlebury baseball team fell to #20 Tufts by a 14-7 score in its NESCAC Championship Weekend opener on Friday afternoon. During the ninth inning of the matchup,
Henry Ayers reset the program record for hits in a single campaign.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The Jumbos made an early statement with six runs in the home half of the first inning. Jack Kamin sparked the surge, ripping a triple to right-center and scoring on a Panther miscue two batters later. Tom Pender delivered an RBI base knock to plate the second run before three consecutive singles from Caden Abraham, Jesse McCullough and James Henshon pushed a combined four runners across.
- Tufts added to its lead in the second. Malcolm Whitfield worked a one-out walk and swiped second before dashing home on a single to left from Pender. Abraham laced a run-scoring two-bagger later in the inning, while McCullough followed with a hit to center that plated two more, swelling the lead to 10-0.
- Joe Basso put the Panthers on the board during the top of the third. With two away in the inning, the designated hitter belted a solo home run to the deepest part of the ballpark (10-1).
- In the bottom half, Owen McKiernan answered the Middlebury tally with an RBI single up the middle to make it 11-1.
- The Jumbos pushed their advantage to 13-1 with two outs in the fourth. Henshon and Tate Bannish sandwiched a Kamin single with free passes to load the bags. Whitfield stepped in and snuck a single through the left side to plate Kamin and Henshon.
- Will Ashley sprinted home from third on a wild pitch in the sixth session for the second Panther tally of the contest (13-2).
- Basso looked to shift the momentum in the seventh, barreling a two-out triple to right-center field. A groundout stalled the scoring chance.
- Whitfield led off the bottom half with a base hit and dashed to third on a McKiernan double. Pender lifted a sacrifice fly to right that let Whitfield score, arranging a 14-2 score.
- The Panthers scored four runs in the ninth, including three with two down in the frame, but the Jumbos induced a popout to seal the seven-run victory. Ayers, Alexander Glasscock and Ashley each posted RBI singles in the stanza.
NOTES
- Ayers erased the single-season program record with his 67th of the campaign during the ninth inning of Friday's contest. He surpasses the prior mark of 66 from Kyle McCausland '25 in 2023.
- The contest marked Middlebury's ninth appearance on NESCAC Championship Weekend.
- The programs clashed for the 51st time in program history and the 17th in the league bracket. Tufts owns a 34-18 advantage, including 11 of 18 during the conference postseason.
The Panthers meet Amherst tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. in an elimination contest.
