AMHERST, Mass. – Welcoming Middlebury College to Memorial Field for a doubleheader to close out the regular season, the Amherst College baseball team picked up a game one victory before falling in the second contest of the day to split the series.

Saturday also marked Senior Day for the Mammoths, who recognized the dedication and accomplishments of the Class of 2021 prior to the first pitch, including: #7 Kevin Schroeder, #12 Kaylen Xie, #11 Stephen Burke, #23 Kyler Kopacz, #14 Andrew Nagel, #17 and captain Jordan Aucoin, #16 and captain Kai Terada-Herzer, #32 Ben Yared, #1 Tyler Marshall, and #12 and captain Joseph Palmo.

With the split, the Mammoths finish regular season play with an 8-3 overall record and an 8-3 mark in NESCAC West action, while Middlebury moves to 2-6 overall (2-6 NESCAC West).

GAME ONE | Amherst 8, Middlebury 5 | Box Score
Facing a 3-2 deficit heading into the bottom of the fourth, Amherst got their bats going to take control of the contest down the stretch as they registered two runs in each of their final three plate appearances en route to taking game one against the Panthers, 8-5.

• Trading scores in the first, Middlebury got on the board via a Lucas Cai two-run homer before a Joseph Palmo '24 single and Daniel Qin '22 walk set up a Luke Padian '24 RBI single and a Chris Murphy '22 sacrifice fly to deadlock the score at two all.
• Retaking the advantage in the third, Mitchell Schroeder sent an RBI single through the left side to give the Panthers a 3-2 edge.
• Responding in the bottom of fourth, Alan Dai '24 tripled down the left field line to plate Aidan Park '22 before Jackson Reydel '23 gave the Mammoths their first lead of the game with an RBI single.
• Tacking on two more runs in the both the bottom of the fifth and sixth behind hits from Palmo (2), Qin (2), Padian (1), and Reydel (1), Amherst extended the score to 8-3 heading into the seventh.
• Striking twice in their final at bat, pushing the score to 8-5 was the closest the Panthers would get as the Mammoths logged the final out to secure the victory.

Palmo's three hits in the game led all players, while Padian posted a contest-high three RBI.

Tabbed for the start on the mound, Nick Giattino '24 improved to 3-0 on the season after a 4.0 inning day that saw the first-year give up just three hits and strike out five. Entering in relief, Jacob Ribitzki '24 struck out the side in the top of the fifth and totaled seven K's in the final 3.0 innings to earn the save. Henry Gustavson (0-1) took the loss for the Panthers, giving up four runs on five hits in 4.0 innings, while Gavin Gattuso allowed four runs on six hits in relief.

GAME TWO | Middlebury 5, Amherst 4 | Box Score
With the scored tied at 1-1 after four, a run by the Panthers in the top of the fifth gave the visitors a slight edge before a big three-run bottom of the sixth put Amherst on top, 4-2. Countering with two runs in the seventh to force extra innings, Middlebury completed the late game comeback in the eighth as they plated the game-winning score in the top half and recorded the final out with a Mammoth runner on third to pick up the 5-4 victory and split the doubleheader.

• Staunch pitching dominated the opening innings of game two, with Sachin Nambiar '22 retiring the side in order with three straight strikeouts to start the contest before adding four more K's across the next two innings to hold the Panthers to a 1-0 lead after three.
• Tying the game at 1-1 in the fourth, Qin logged his sixth double the season with a blast to left center to capitalize on a Palmo walk a batter prior.
• Singles from Lucas Flemming and Cai set the score at 2-1 in favor of the visitors after five, before the Mammoths used a three-run bottom of the sixth to go ahead, 4-2.
• Michael Perales '24 got Amherst's bats going, singling to center before Palmo powered a homer to right field to make it 3-2. Singling to left and stealing second, Qin moved to third on a fly ball before scoring on an error by Middlebury.
• Forcing extra baseball, the Panthers plated two runs in the top of the seventh before a Sammy Smith single notched an RBI on what stood as the game-winner in eighth.

Nambiar impressed in 6.0 innings in the start, striking out 12 hitters while allowing just five hits and one earned run. Dai (1-1) took the loss for the Mammoths, giving up two earned runs on two hits in 2.0 innings while striking out one. Andrew Gatland, Gavin Gattuso, and Charlie Kutz (1-2) each saw time on the mound for Middlebury, with Kutz earning the win after tossing the final 2.1 innings and allowing a hit and no runs while striking out four.
 
 

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