MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Castleton baseball team made the short trip up VT Route 30 to Middlebury Wednesday, suffering an 8-4 loss to the Panthers in a tightly-contested matchup.
The Spartans (14-18) were limited to three hits on the day as Reece de Castro collected two with a walk, scoring twice. Addison Schaub went 1-for-3 with a double, stolen base, and run scored. Jackson Cardozo collected the squad's only RBI, reaching via walk and stealing home for the fourth run.
Castleton used five arms in the second meeting with the Panthers (21-8), starting Joseph Voli who went 3.0 innings with two earned runs and three strikeouts. Adam Winchell tossed a scoreless fourth inning as Stephen Coffey and Zack Marlow allowed one run apiece in their one-frame outings. Sam Crawford toed the rubber for two innings, fanning two while being tabbed with two earned runs.
De Castro led off the game with a single, moving to second base on an error committed by the Middlebury outfielder. Two batters later, Evan Keegan grounded to third base but a miscue on the throw put Spartans on the corners. Cardozo hit a ball to shortstop for a fielder's choice, bringing de Castro home to open the scoring at 1-0.
After two solid innings by Voli, the last in which Schaub caught a Panther attempting to steal, another leadoff single off the bat of de Castro set up a Tyler McLain sacrifice bunt. Keegan pushed a ground ball to the first baseman to advance the runner as de Castro scored moments later on a wild pitch. In the home half of the third stanza, Middlebury knocked a two-out, two-run homer to even proceedings at 2-2.
Schaub collected his two-bagger with one away in the fourth, then moved to the hot corner on a Jack Boyle groundout. An errant pitch got past the Panther catcher, allowing Schaub to come across for the go-ahead run. The senior backstop cut down another base runner in the next half-inning to preserve the advantage. One frame later, Middlebury tied the game once again with a leadoff double that led to a one-out sacrifice fly.
The Spartans used a couple of walks and a fielder's choice to put two aboard in the sixth, getting the run back on a successful double steal executed by Schaub and Cardozo. The advantage would not last for long as a hit-by-pitch, stolen base, advance via groundout, and wild pitch allowed the Panthers to tie the game for a third time.
Middlebury used three hits and forced four Castleton errors to push across four runs in the seventh and eighth innings, silencing the CU bats to win both matchups between the Green Mountain State programs.
The Spartans get back into Little East Conference action this weekend, taking on WestConn for a two-game series. The doubleheader has been moved up to Friday, April 28 with first pitch commencing at noon.
