MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Vermont State University Castleton baseball dropped to Middlebury College 8-7 Saturday afternoon.
VTSU Castleton (1-10) lost to Middlebury (3-2) after the Panthers hit a walk off run to secure the victory, 8-7.
Sam Crawford was solid on the mound for the Spartans with four strikeouts, two hits and two balls in 6.0 innings.
Mikey Raby Jr. (1-4) had two RBIs and
Kannon Dush (2-3) collected multiple hits and earned an RBI in the loss.
On a 40 degree day in early March, it was to not surprise that it would take a couple innings for the batters to get warmed up and begin connecting on some pitches. The Panthers would be the first team to strike with two runs in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Castleton responded quickly to Middlebury's action with some runs of their own.
Turner Clews (1-4) sent a ball up the middle of the field to advance Raby Jr. to home plate for Castleton's for score of the game. Immediately to follow, Dush connected on the pitch that sent a ball to left field and allowing for
Brandon Ramirez to trot home and tie the game up two apiece.
The middle innings continued to be a pitcher's game, as Crawford made quick of the Panthers batters in innings four, five and six with easy 1-2-3 outings.
Getting confidence from Crawford's efforts, Castleton began making noise with the bat once again. Dylan Pallotto came in to pinch hit in the seventh. He made contact with his swing and was able to reach first base on a throwing error, which advanced the runners and allowed for Dush to cross the plate to take a 3-2 lead.
Alex Bingham extended the inning with a ground out to the pitcher, allowing for
Hunter Perkins to stride home for the run and bring Castleton's lead to four. Feeling the momentum, Raby Jr. crushed a ball to left field to bring in the final two runners on base and cap off a four run inning to lead Middlebury 6-2.
With one inning to go, Castleton was able to find one more score after a throwing error by Middlebury to go up 7-2. However, Middlebury did not give in and made trouble for the Spartans in the bottom of the ninth. Costly errors allowed for the Panthers to stay in the game, which allow for a three-run home run to tie the game up at seven with one out remaining. Gus Parker came in to pinch run for the Panthers. He stole second and was able to make it home after a walk off single from Andrew Ashley to complete the comeback and defeat Castleton 8-7.
VTSU Castleton returns to the diamond Saturday, March 16 in doubleheader action against RPI, with games taking place at noon and 3 p.m.
