Middlebury men’s baseball trekked three hours southbound to play Amherst in the first NESCAC series of the year. The clubs split the three-game series one to one, with Saturday’s rubber match postponed due to inclement weather.
In Friday’s opener, Middlebury jumped out to a 3–0 lead through a two-run double by Gus Parker ’27 and a sacrifice fly by Brayden Mathews ’26. The Panthers added two more in the fourth, while Kunal Handa ’25 hurled four dominant shutout innings for his second win of the season. The Mammoths scored one in the 9th to make it 5–3, but reliever Dylan Knightly ’26 slammed the door.
With storms looming Saturday morning, game two began under threatening skies. Carter Chi ’28 hit an RBI single to give the Panthers an early 1–0 lead, but Amherst responded with six unanswered runs. Middlebury showed signs of life in the fourth, scoring three, before they ultimately fell 8–4.
In game three, the series finale, Middlebury built a four-run advantage by the second inning, but rain postponed the contest. A make-up date has not yet been announced.
With the series over, the Panthers move to 10–8 overall. After a sluggish start, the team has gained momentum recently, winning five out of their last six games. If questions surrounded the team’s younger core earlier in the season, those have been quelled with the recent string of results. Four underclassmen started both of Saturday’s games, generating much of the offensive firepower.
Will Ashley ’27 spoke to The Campus about the key to maintaining the team’s success.
“I think for us to continue to succeed, it’s going to come from being a scrappier team. It’s going to have to come from good, clean baseball. Small ball, if you will. Stealing bases, bunting guys over, making sure each guy is doing their part,” he said.
Fielding remains and area for improvement. The Panthers have committed 29 errors across 18 games so far, a number they will need to reduce. Baseball, like most sports, is predicated on the execution of fundamentals. History suggests that teams mastering fundamentals tend to win championships. In the MLB, the World Series winners consistently rank among the league’s top third in fielding percentage. Last year’s champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, committed 61 errors – the fewest in the majors. Granted, a 250 million dollar payroll also doesn’t hurt.
On a personal level, Ashley attributes his breakout season to a change in mindset.
“The difference this year is how much fun I’ve had. Baseball is something I genuinely enjoy, and it should never be something that stresses me out or angers me,” Ashley said. “I’m out there with 30 of my best friends playing the game that I love, and so the biggest thing for me is no matter what happens is to go out there and have a good time.”
His approach is paying dividends — Ashley is batting .324 with a team-leading 20 RBIs. He’s reinvented himself as a ballplayer after just recording seven plate appearances all of last season.
During our interview, Ashley didn’t hold back on sharing his hopes for the team. “Setting our sights on a College World Series is ambitious, but very possible in the near future for this program,” he said.
Why not? At this point in last year’s season, the Panthers held a mediocre 8–7 record before embarking on a nine-game winning streak, finishing the season 32–13 and capturing the NESCAC Championship. The 2025 squad has followed a similar trajectory, heating up as of late. If they can limit their errors, they have a real chance of defending their title and making another NCAA tournament run.
For those who are not D3 baseball connoisseurs, there are two ways for Middlebury to qualify for the NCAA tournament: by winning the NESCAC, which grants them an automatic bid, or by receiving one of 17 “at-large bids” awarded by the NCAA selection committee to teams they think deserve to participate.
However, before Middlebury can ponder tournament aspirations, they have work to do. The Panthers face Union College away on Tuesday, and then host Wesleyan in a pivotal NESCAC series this weekend. The rain is forecasted to subside, so come out and support.
