AMHERST, Mass. -- The bats off the Amherst College baseball team cooled off Friday afternoon as three Middlebury pitchers limited the Mammoths to five safeties en route to a 5-3 victory in both teams conference openers played at Memorial Field. 

The Panthers improved to 10-7 overall and 1-0 in the conference while Amherst fell to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in NESCAC play. The two teams are slated to play a doubleheader back at Memorial Field with the first game beginning at 12 p.m. weather permitting. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* Middlebury built a 3-0 lead with two runs in the top of the first and one more in the top of the second off Amherst starter Nick Fassert. 

* Amherst rallied with a run in the bottom of the second. Ryan McIntyre drew a lead-off walk and took second on a passed ball. Charlie LaFreniere walked and Justin Orridge then hit a line drive RBI-single to center field that score McIntyre. A strikeout and an inning-ending double play quashed the threat. 

* Amherst fell behind 5-1 but rallied for a run in the fourth. LaFreniere worked a lead-off walk and after an out took second on a groundout. He scored when Aiden Dubetsky flared an RBI-single over SS and into left-center field to make it 5-2. 

* The game turned into a pitchers dual between Amherst reliever Yoon Chae, who blanked Middlebury for the final four frames on just two hits, and Middlebury reliever Kunal Handa, who also threw four shutout innings to keep the Mammoths at bay. Panther closer Dylan Knightly came on and allowed a run in the bottom of the ninth in his second inning of work on a two-out RBI-single to Jack Boyle, but it was too little too late for the Mammoths. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Boyle had 2 of the Mammoths' 5 hits, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. 

* Fassert took the loss, going the first 5 frames and allowing five hits and 2 walks while striking out four. Only 3 of the 5 runs charged to him were earned.