Baseball Ends Season with Series Splits, Fails to Quailfy for NESCAC Tournament

Over the weekend, Middlebury split both of its series against NESCAC East opponents Bowdoin and Tufts. On the road, the Panthers took game one before dropping the afternoon effort in Brunswick on Saturday, returning home Sunday to divide their final double header of the season against the Jumbos.

The opening game against divisional leader Bowdoin saw a pitcher’s duel highlighted by a brilliant performance by Eric Truss ’15 who shut out the Polar Bears in his complete game, four-hit, four-strikeout effort. His quick tempo and consistent pitching kept the rhythm and momentum on Middlebury’s side in a game lasting less than 90 minutes, ending with a score of 2-0. The effort would earn Truss NESCAC Pitcher of the Week honors.

The Panthers struck early in the first, starting with a lead-off double by Dylan Sinnickson ’15. Moved over by junior Alex Kelly’s groundout to second base, Sinnickson came in on an RBI single from the bat of Thomas Driscoll ’13. Bowdoin couldn’t respond, hitting into three quick fly-outs.

Middlebury scored its second and final run in the sixth, again kicked off by a Sinnickson double before Michael Morris ’13 drove a fly ball deep enough to bring him in on the sacrifice fly. Sinnickson went 2-3 in the game.

Bowdoin starter Erik Jacobsen didn’t roll over, however, as he shut down the Middlebury lineup with nine straight outs through the next three frames of play. He battled each inning against Truss, also going the distance in a five-hit, two-run outing. His offense couldn’t support what was an otherwise solid performance as the Polar Bears stranded nine runners total.

Game two was a different story as Middlebury failed to plate a run in a 9-0 loss. Bowdoin combined six different pitchers to limit the Panther lineup to four hits in a seven inning shutout.

Offensively, the Polar Bears scored two in the bottom of the first off of a hit-by-pitch, a walk, and a double to bring them both in. They added pressure in the third by plating three more on two additional hit-by-pitches, a walk, a two-RBI single and an RBI double before reliever Mark Dickerson ’15 got a double play and strikeout to end the inning.

A one-run fourth and a big three-run sixth inning capped off Bowdoin’s strong offensive return. The Panthers struggled to make solid contact throughout the game which resulted in a high number of fly-outs and groundouts.

A short evening of rest was all the Panthers were afforded before returning to Forbes Field to take on the Tufts Jumbos. Game one gave Middlebury a hard-fought victory with a final score of 7-6, but game two fell in favor of Tufts with an end result of 8-3.

Tufts began the day with a couple of unearned runs in the first thanks to a leadoff walk and a throwing error by starter John Popkowski ’13. Middlebury swiftly cut the lead in half on Morris’ RBI single in the bottom half of the inning before Driscoll knocked in the tying run on a single in the third.

The Panthers busted the game open in the fifth on a five-hit, three-run inning with another RBI by Morris and a two RBI single by Tom Rafferty ’13. They didn’t keep the lead for long, however, as Tufts struck back with four runs in the top half of the sixth. But the Panthers bats were hot, and a seventh inning rally put the Panthers over the top to take the game. Alex Kelly ’14, Morris and Driscoll all reached base to start off the inning before Rafferty stepped up to the plate. With the game on the line, he roped a single to left to bring in the game-winning run. He led the team with his 2-4, four-RBI performance. Logan Mobley tossed the final 1.2 innings to earn a relief victory.

Game two saw the momentum reverse early as a three hit, two-error first inning allowed the Tufts to jump out to a 5-0 lead. The game settled through the next two innings thanks to reliever Dylan Kane ’14, but the Jumbos struck again in the fourth to put the game at 6-0.

The Panthers chipped away with a run in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double by Hunter Merryman ’15 and again with a strong four-hit, two-run fifth inning. But the top of the seventh saw Tufts tack on two more runs off of Kane to put the game completely out of reach. The Panthers showed life in the bottom of the last inning by putting three men on base, but they were ultimately left stranded.

Though the Panthers’ season ended with lesser results than anticipated, splitting two series against two of the strongest members of the NESCAC shows the talent this team possessed throughout the year. The Panthers look to continue the trend of strong pitching performances coming into next year’s season.