Williamstown, MA - The Williams College Baseball Team played a double-header against Middlebury College following a 9-7 loss on Friday. Unfortunately, Middlebury College won the first game of the day, 5-1.
Will Jeffries took the start for Williams and threw 6 strikeouts through 5 innings while allowing 4 earned runs. Alex Price took the win for the Panthers, pitching all 7 innings with an impressive 13 strikeouts and allowing just a single run.
It was a slow start at Bobby Coombs Field until the Middlebury offense exploded in the fourth inning. Nathan Samii scored their first run after Jack Stopler hit a single down the right field line. Gough added the second run unearned after a Williams error. Sammy Smith got Stopler home with a single. Mitchell Schroeder hit a big double that resulted in scores from Smith and Borter. The five runs scored in the fourth were enough to secure the win for Middlebury.
The Ephs managed to score just one run, which came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jakob Cohn scored the lone run for the Ephs after getting on base with a single to center field. A single from Juan got Cohn to third, and James O'Connor bunted, scoring Cohn.
The Williams College Baseball Team pulled off a thrilling comeback victory against Middlebury College in the second game of their doubleheader, winning 11-10 in the bottom of the 10th inning.
After losing the first game 5-1, the Ephs got off to a slow start in the second game, with Middlebury scoring 3 runs in the first inning and adding another in the third. Williams finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth, with James O'Connor hitting a double and later scoring on a sacrifice fly from Luca Lopetrone. Jon Singleton then hit a single to score Daniel Lynch, cutting the deficit to 4-2.
However, Middlebury pulled away with 6 runs in the middle innings to take a seemingly comfortable 10-2 lead. O'Connor ended the scoreless drought for Williams, scoring on a wild pitch. Matthew Brown scored the fourth run for Williams after Singleton hit a single down the right field line.Â
The Ephs mounted a huge comeback in the eighth inning, scoring 3 runs to cut the margin to 10-7, with O'Connor again in the thick of the action. Scoring the first run of the inning was Cohn, after an O'Connor single to right field. Whitehouse made a gutsy play that ultimately changed the game, stealing home. O'Connor scored the Ephs seventh run off a single from Brown. The Ephs headed into the last inning of regulation down, 10-7.Â
Middlebury found themselves in a very vulnerable position after walking 2 hitters. The Ephs took full advantage, scoring after an error from the Panther's shortstop. O'Connor, continued his exceptional game, hitting a timely single which resulted in scores from both Driscoll and Cohn. The huge hit from O'Connor tied the game at 10-10.
Middlebury's lone hit in the tenth inning wouldn't secure a victory on the road. Driscoll called game with a single to right field, giving Lynch the game winning run. Coach Barrale, spoke highly of fifth year Dave Driscoll, saying, "He's really our everyday third baseman, but unfortunately he hurt his arm down in Florida and has been out all year so for him to come in in that big moment and get that game winning knock was special."
The Ephs pulled off a valiant comeback to close of the conference series at home, behind James 'O'Sizzle' O'Connor's marvelous 5-6 day. Coach Barrale told the team heading into next week, "We can play with anybody, if we play well. But we need to play well in all three aspects of the game: pitching, defending, and hitting. Towards the end of the game we started doing that so we need to continue this momentum going forward."
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