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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Baseball starts out hot in NESCAC

Despite dropping two of three games to Amherst last weekend, the Middlebury baseball team is still off to their best NESCAC start in years thanks to a three-game sweep of bitter rival Williams during the team’s annual spring break trip to Chandler, Arizona. Through their first 13 games, the Panthers are 7-6, including 4-2 in conference play.
Middlebury made their cross-country trip to the desert immediately before Spring break started, opening their 2011 season by splitting a doubleheader with Oberlin College. After playing additional games against Thomas and Gustavus Adolphus, the Panthers played the first contests of their all-important NESCAC west schedule against what turned out to be a much overmatched Williams squad. Middlebury won all three games, injecting an early shot of confidence into their metaphorical (and in some cases literal) arms.
The Panthers rode a magnificent pitching performance from staff ace Nick Angstman ’11 in their first game against the Ephs, an eventual 10-3 victory. In a great all-around performance by the squad, Middlebury notched 18 hits while Angstman went seven innings, allowing just two earned runs and striking out four. John Popkowski ’13 tossed the final two innings to record his first save on the season.
The second game of the series was a much-more hotly contested affair, as the Panthers and the Ephs traded leads, leading to a final score of 17-8 for Middlebury that was nowhere near indicative of how close the game actually was. Williams, who had trailed for much of the game, was able to bring home three runs in their half of the seventh, which is the final inning for college doubleheaders. After the Ephs forced the extra frames, Middlebury exploded for nine runs in the top of the ninth, all but ensuring the Panthers victory. Designated hitter Joe Conway ’11 and team captain and right fielder Donnie McKillop ’11 both had three RBIs in the game, and Scooter Scott ’11 entered the game in the seventh inning to pick up his first win of the season.
Game three of the series was all Middlebury, as the Panthers scored three runs in the top of the first and never looked back en route to a 9-0 shutout win. John Wiet ’13 turned in the performance of the season so far for the Middlebury pitching staff, recording the complete game shutout by allowing just six hits over seven innings of work and striking out four. Shortstop Will Baine ’12 had three RBIs in the game to go along with two triples.

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“Sweeping Williams not only puts us in a good position for the playoffs, but also lets this team believe that we can hang with the big dogs,” said Thomas Rafferty ’13. “Our bats came alive and everybody was mashing the ball. We have an exciting team this year.”
After returning from Arizona, Middlebury dismantled Southern Vermont in their home opener 19-4 before hitting the road again, this time heading to Amherst for another crucial NESCAC west series against the Lord Jeffs. Fortune did not favor the Panthers so well this time around, as the visiting nine were only able to take one game from their opposition.
Game one of the three-game series was a heartbreaker, as a walk-off single sealed the 7-6 Amherst win in the bottom of the ninth. Middlebury had trailed the game 3-1 until the top of the fifth, when Tyler Wark ’12 singled home a run to cut the lead to two. In the following inning, the Panthers put three more runs on the board to take the lead thanks to a Rafferty  double, a Wark walk and a McKillop sacrifice. When Amherst again took the lead in the bottom of the seventh, McKillop was able to deliver a clutch RBI single in the top of the eighth to tie the game at six. However, just when the game seemed destined to be extended for extra innings, Amherst’s Alex Hero singled into left field to deliver the last-second victory for the Lord Jeffs. Popkowski took the loss for Middlebury, his second on the season.
The  Panthers struck back in game two, the first of a Saturday doubleheader. Behind three hit days from both Baine and Zach Roeder ’12 and a complete-game, three run performance from pitcher Michael Joseph ’13, Middlebury was able to cruise to an easy 8-3 victory over the Lord Jeffs. However, Amherst sealed the series win in the rubber match that afternoon, issuing the Panthers their worst loss of the season with a 12-2 walloping. Wiet took the loss for Middlebury despite only allowing two earned runs in nearly six innings of work- fielding errors contributed to the loss more than poor pitching.
“We played solid but we didn’t get enough timely hits or plays,” said Rafferty of the Amherst.
Middlebury takes on Wesleyan at home this weekend for another important three-game conference series. The Panthers have shown that they can hit, and they’ve also shown that the pitching has the potential to be dominant, if not consistent. If Middlebury can put it all together on the diamond, this will be a special season for the Panthers.


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