Baseball

The Middlebury College baseball team will take to the diamond for the first time this season at Southern Vermont on Friday, March 23, where they will look to wash the taste of last year’s campaign from their collective mouth.
Last year’s teams entered the season with high hopes and a ton of talent but finished a disappointing 10-17 when it was all said and done behind some very suspect pitching. In an effort to bolster the rotation and bullpen, five first-year pitchers will join the roster this spring, looking to add depth to a staff led by ace Nick Angstman ’11, who finished last season with a win-loss record of 2-3 and an ERA of 8.59, which is in no way indicative of his skills on the mound.
The good news for the Panthers is that they will return most of an extremely potent offense that hit .305 last year and should be even more dangerous this season. The position players are led by captain and third baseman Donnie McKillop ’11, who hit a blistering .423 last season, best on the team. McKillop also added two home runs and 27 RBIs. The Panthers will also return most of last season’s power in the form of Joe Conway ’13, who led the team with five homers and 29 RBIs last year in addition to hitting .359.
After opening the season in-state, the Panthers will travel to Phoenix, Ariz. for their annual spring-break marathon of games, which will see them play nine times in just seven days.
The spring tour is capped by a crucial three-game series with Williams, which will go a long way in determining Middlebury’s potential playoff chances despite the fact that it is being played so early on the schedule.