Williamstown Mass— The Williams College baseball team fought hard but ultimately came up just short, as their game against Middlebury Friday was suspended due to darkness, with the score tied at 10–10. The game was rescheduled for Saturdayat 11 a.m., before the start of the doubleheader.
Middlebury struck first after getting the bases loaded quickly. Anthony Pelagrini worked a walk, which brought Aiden Han for an unearned run to put the Panthers up 1-0
The Ephs responded quickly, Ben Swank got aboard with a single, followed by a walk from Marcus Burrell II. With two runners on base, Henry Juan delivered a clutch RBI groundout to second base, bringing Swank across the plate. This put the Ephs up 2-1. They tacked on another after Ryan Nakajima hit a single and Juan scored on an error by the Middlebury first baseman, moving the score to 3-1.
The Ephs kept the pressure on in the third after Burell led off with a single, after a walk and Luca Lopertone being hit by a pitch, the Ephs had bases loaded with Burell on third, Juan on second, and Lopertone on first. Nakajima then stepped up, hitting a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Burell.
Middlebury battled back in the top of the fourth, scoring three runs to tie the game, first with an RBI by Brendan Mathews that brought Pelagrani home. On the next at-bat, they scored again. Nathan Sammi hit a double that brought Carter Chi home. Finally, they tied the game when Chi got home on the next at-bat after a single RBI by Han.
Undeterred, the Ephs kept it going in the bottom of the fifth. Luca Lopetrone grounded out to first, scoring Henry Juan and making it 5-4. Then, Ryan Nakajima singled up the middle to drive in James O'Connor, pushing the lead to 6-4. The Ephs continued to capitalize on Middlebury's mistakes, advancing runners on a balk and a wild pitch, further building their momentum.
Middlebury responded in the top of the sixth, pushing across two runs to tie the game at 6-6. After a sacrifice fly from Gus Parker scored Samii, B. Mathews followed with another sacrifice fly, bringing in Mathews. Meanwhile, Han and Ben Slaughter reached base on walks, setting the stage for the rally. However, they left two runners on base as the inning ended.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Ephs regained the lead; after the first year, Lucas Asanovic worked a walk and advanced to second on an error. This set the stage for Burell to hit a single RBI to send Asanovic home and give the Ephs the lead once again.
Keeping with the trend of the game, Middlebury tied it again after the Ephs gave up an unearned run, walking a Middlebury hitter with bases loaded to send W Ashley home.
In the top of the eighth, Middlebury added three runs to take a 10-7 lead. After Han struck out swinging, Samii doubled to right-center, driving in Will Ashley and Carter Chi, who reached base on an error, scoring both runs. Brendan Mathews grounded out to third, moving Ashley to second and Chi to third. Ashley then reached base on an error by the pitcher, allowing Gus Parker to score. This gave Middlebury the 10-7 advantage, but the Ephs responded in the bottom of the inning.
The Ephs rallied, scoring three runs to tie the game at 10-10. After James O'Connor struck out, Henry Juan grounded out to second, driving in Burrell II from second. Burrell II followed with a clutch single to right-center, bringing in both O'Connor and Lucas Asanovic to even the score. Despite the strong offensive push, the Ephs couldn't capitalize further, as Ben Swank struck out and O'Connor walked, leaving the game tied at 10-10 heading into the ninth.
Unfortunately, this exciting back-and-forth game, after a scoreless ninth inning, had to be called for darkness.
When play resumed on Saturday morning, both teams picked up right where they left off, trading tense, scoreless frames in the 10th. Middlebury's Will Ashley looked to get something started with a single, but was picked off at second to end the inning. The Ephs threatened in the bottom half after Lucas Asanovic walked and Owen McHugh and Ben Swank added back-to-back singles, but Asanovic was thrown out at the plate trying to score from third, and McHugh was later called out on a questionable interference call, ending the rally with the game still tied.
In the 11th, Middlebury finally broke the deadlock. Aiden Han singled up the middle, then came around to score on a double to right-center by Kieran McCauslan, giving the Panthers a narrow 11-10 lead. Williams was unable to answer in the bottom half, going down in order on three strikeouts to end the game.
