Wesleyan Loses to Middlebury in NESCAC Opener, 7-4

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The No. 30 Wesleyan University baseball team dropped its NESCAC opener Friday evening to Middlebury College, 7-4 on Dresser Diamond at Andrus Field.

RECORDS
Wesleyan: 13-3, 0-0 NESCAC West
Middlebury: 4-8, 2-1 NESCAC West

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Middlebury got on the board first in the top of the second. After a lead-off walk, Raj Palekar hit a deep double to left center to bring home Phil Bernstein. Later in the inning, a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out as Jake Turtel singled through the left side to extend the Panthers’ lead to two. Spencer Tonies then grounded out to first base to bring home Brendan Donohue, giving Middlebury a 3-0 lead.
• The Cardinals cut the deficit to two in the bottom half of the inning. After a wild pitch advanced Eric Jones ’16 and Ellis Schaefer ’17, who reached by way of a hit-by-pitch and single, respectively, Andrew Keith ’19 hit an infield single to the shortstop to bring home Jones.
• Wesleyan got within one in the third. With runners on first and third, a delayed steal lead to Matt Jeye ’18 crossing home before Nick Micelli ’17 was caught stealing in a run down.
• In the bottom of the fifth, Jordan Farber ’16 led off with a deep triple to the center field fence. He was brought home on the following at bat following a sacrifice fly to left field by Jeye to even the score at 3-3.
• The Panthers broke the tie in the top of sixth. With runners on first and second, Donohue’s hit dropped in short left center for a double to bring home Sam Graf. Two more runs scored in the inning off a Wesleyan error before another Middlebury double by Tonies, down the left field line, drove in Turtel to put the visitor’s ahead by four, 7-3.
• Wesleyan had an opportunity to cut the lead in the eighth but left the bases loaded.
• In the bottom of the ninth, Miceli singled and reached second on an error. He later scored in the inning following a pinch-hit single by Robby Harbison ’17, but it wasn’t enough as the next batter flew out to end the game.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cardinals totaled 11 hits but left 14 runners on base.
• Jeye and Keith both went 2-for-4 with a RBI to lead the Cardinals, while Guy Davidson ’16, Farber, Baratta, Miceli, Schaefer, Harbison and Will O’Sullivan ’17 each tallied a hit. Ethan Rode ’17 earned the starting nod but picked up his first loss of the season and is now 3-1 overall. He struck out five and surrendered eight hits. Asher Young ’17 went 3.1 innings in relief and did not allow a run.
• Middlebury totaled 11 hits as well and were led by Turtel, who went 3-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored. Donohue went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and Graf finished 2-for-5 with a run scored. Tonies finished 1-for-5 with two RBI. Colby Morris started for the Panthers and picked up the win (2-2). He tossed 6.1 innings and surrendered three runs on eight hits with three strikeouts. Dylan Takamori pitched 2.2 innings of relief and gave up one run (unearned) on three hits.

Photo by Jonas Powell '18