Hamilton College was one strike away from its first conference title, but Middlebury College rallied in its final at-bat of the winner-take-all game in the 2022 NESCAC Baseball Championship at Trinity College's DiBenedetto Stadium on Sunday.
 
The Continentals (21-17 overall), who were the No. 2 seed from the NESCAC West Division, showed a lot of determination throughout the playoffs. They were 4-0 in elimination games before their 12-8 loss to the Panthers in the afternoon.
 
Hamilton had already defeated Trinity in the decisive third game of their NESCAC Championship quarterfinal series at the Continentals' Loop Road Athletic Complex on May 8, just to reach this four-team, double-elimination tournament. Hamilton dropped the opener against Colby College 6-4 on May 13 and proceeded to win the next three games by a combined score of 43-14, including 17-3 over Middlebury earlier on Sunday.
 
The Continentals had an historic season regardless of the finish. They set a program record for wins in a season and made their first postseason appearance. Hamilton also set a number of team and individual single-season records.
 
The Panthers (29-12) scored seven runs in the top of the ninth inning, including six with two outs, of the seventh and final game of the NESCAC Championship. At one point in the ninth when Middlebury still trailed 8-6 with two outs, there were two strikes on the batter. The Panthers, who were the top seed from the NESCAC West Division, earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III regionals.
 
Game 1
 
The Continentals racked up 17 hits and didn't commit an error, but the star of this game was starting pitcher Peter Jones '25. Jones (2-0) allowed just one run on five hits in a season-high six innings while he walked three and struck out three. Jamie Hauswirth '22 relieved Jones and earned his second career save by pitching a season-high three innings.
 
Hamilton's Brady Slinger '22 went 3-for-4 with a two-run triple and two walks and scored five times. Ethan Harrast '23 had three hits including a double, and Jackson Sattinger '24 chipped in three singles. Shane Dux '24 singled and smacked a two-run double.
 
Jack Herlihy '22 led the Continentals with three runs batted in and Phil Bernstein '23, Adam Wijaya '22 and Ethan Murphy '22 all drove in two. Bernstein and Slinger stole two bases apiece.
 
Hamilton jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after scoring two runs in the top of the first inning and four more in the second. Middlebury scored single runs in the second, seventh and ninth innings. The Continentals pulled away late with a run in the seventh, seven in the eighth and three in the ninth.
 
Game 2
 
The Panthers were the visiting team and they led 5-1 after the top of the fifth inning. Bernstein hit a two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the inning and pulled Hamilton to within 5-3. He ended up tied with Sattinger for the team lead in home runs with four.
 
The Continentals took an 8-5 lead in the sixth with five runs on six hits and a hit batsman. Hamilton, which used seven pitchers, managed to hold onto that advantage until there were two outs in the ninth. Henry Tyler '25 came in with two outs in the sixth and shut down Middlebury in the seventh and eighth innings as he allowed just one base runner on a walk.
 
Dux led the Continentals' offense with two doubles and a single. He had six multi-hit games and raised his batting average more than 100 points to .356 during the postseason. Gavin Schaefer-Hood '22 drove in two runs, Wijaya plated two runs with a single in the sixth and Sattinger doubled in a run in the inning as well.
 
Hamilton stole four more bases for the fourth game in a row. Slinger set a team single-season record with 31 stolen bases and the team smashed its previous mark with 117 stolen bases this season.