Despite Mammoth Sweep, Panthers Set to Play in NESCAC Tournament

Middlebury played its last series this weekend; they closed out the season with a five game losing streak. 

The team played hard, but they were not able to snag a win from the Amherst Mammoths. The Panthers played twice on Saturday, April 28, losing 4-1 in the first game and 12-4 in the second with only six innings completed. Saturday morning, Amherst took a 3-1 lead by the third inning, and the Panthers weren’t able to close the gap. In game two, the Mammoths established themselves early, taking a 5-2 lead by the top of the second. The Panthers tried to close the gap in the bottom of a third, bringing the score to 5-4 with runs completed by Sophia Marlino ’22 and Melanie Mandell ’19. Sunday, the Panthers played their final game and lost 7-0. However, the team showed up with a strong defense, holding off the Mammoths from earning a single run until the top of the fifth. 

The team played 29 games this season and finished with a 12-17 record. They won 41.4% of their games, which is down from 64.5% (20-11) in 2018 and 54.7% (17-14-1) in 2017. Their PCT for conference games this year was .364 which is relatively comparable to the past two years, .445 in 2018 and .333 in 2017. They have a cumulative batting average of .326, up from .312 in 2018 and slightly lower than .341 in 2017. The team’s on-base percentage is consistent with what it has been for the past two years, .401 this season, up from .383 in 2018 and .398 in 2017. The team also kept on par with the number of homeruns his, 17 this season compared to 18 from last season. 

This weekend, the Panthers are set to play in the NESCAC Tournament, beginning on May 3. Middlebury will face the hosting Jumbos in the first round of the tournament. Tufts is currently ranked No. 1 in the East; Middlebury is ranked No. 4 in the West. Last year Tufts made it to game 6, or round two of the Championship, while Middlebury played in game 3 but lost to Bowdoin. 

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