MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – In a weekend series that was going to determine the NESCAC West Division title, it was Middlebury who left victorious as the Panthers swept all three games of the weekend series from Dresser Diamond, defeating the Cardinals 17-13, 8-0, and 7-2. Wesleyan (21-10, 5-7 NESCAC West) earns the #4 seed in the NESCAC West Division and will travel to face Colby, the #1 seed in NESCAC East Division in a best of 3 series next weekend.
 
In a game that needed over four hours between two days to finish, Middlebury took game one by a score of 17-13. The two sides started this contest at 4 PM on Friday and made it to the Top of the 9^th before darkness set in, suspending play until 11:30 AM on Saturday.
 
Wesleyan led 1-0 after three innings, but Middlebury scored all 17 runs over the final six innings to win a high-scoring affair in game one. David Byrne went deep for a two-run shot in the 4^th to give the Panthers the lead.
 
It was soon 7-1 Middlebury heading into the bottom of the 6^th where Wesleyan managed to plate four runs on four hits, all with two outs, lowering the deficit to 7-5. Jake Acker '27 started with a two-out triple to left center, coming around to score on a Matt Halas '24 RBI single to left. Jack Nally '24 hit a single through the left side before Ernie Little '26 drove an RBI single through the right side. Two more runs came in to score on wild pitches.
 
Luke LaSaracina '25 hit a towering two-run shot over the center field fence to make it 9-7 Middlebury in the 7^th inning and the Cardinals again shaved the deficit down to two in the 8^th on a Connor Sullivan '26 RBI single.
 
The Panthers exploded for seven runs in the 9^th, as the first nine batters of the inning all reached base safely. Wesleyan made it interesting in the 9^th, plating five runs, but it wasn't enough as Middlebury took game one 17-13.
 
Five Cardinals had multi-hit games including Nally (2-for-3 with two walks), Halas (2-for-3 with 1 RBI, two hit by pitches, and three runs), Little (2-for-4 with 2 RBI), James Marsden '26 (2-for-5 with one triple), and Sullivan (2-for-6 with 2 RBI).
 
Game two saw Middlebury's Justin Lessing work a gem, throwing a complete game shutout with two hits allowed, three walks, and 11 strikeouts.
 
The Panthers scored three runs in the 1^st which proved more than enough for Lessing. The lone chance for the Cardinals came in the 1^st with the bases loaded and out one, but Lessing got Marsden and LaSaracina to both strike out to end the inning unscathed.
 
Both pitchers grew into the game as Patrick Murphy '24 didn't allow a run over the middle five innings, but Middlebury broke the game open in the 7^th as Kyle McCausland hit a three-run homer and Gus Parker drove a two-run bomb out.
 
Middlebury's pitching continued to steal the show in third game of the series, with Sawyer Duarte going eight innings allowing just five hits and two runs with two walks and seven strikeouts.
 
David Tirrell '25 allowed three earned runs in four innings while Matt Spada '26 allowed just one run and one hit with three strikeouts in four innings of relief work. Ian Appleby '24 pitched a 1-2-3 9^th inning for the Cardinals.
 
The Panthers led 6-0 after three innings as LaSaracina homered in the 5^th to get the Cardinals on the board. Even with the LaSaracina homer, hits were hard to come by as the Cardinals fell 7-2.  
 
LaSaracina has more home runs this season (six) that he had in his previous two seasons combined.
 
Wesleyan's final regular season game is on Wednesday at 4 PM at Nichols.