BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Middlebury Panthers erased a 6-2 deficit to post a 10-6 victory over NESCAC West Division foe Williams, the No. 3 seed in the division, to capture the conference title for the second year in a row and fourth time in program history.

The Panthers took a brief 2-1 lead afer two innings. Williams answered with a six runs in the top of the third to take a 6-2 advantage. Ben Swank sparked the rally with a lead-off double and teammates Marcus Burrell II and Henry Juan hit back-to-back homers to give the Ephs a 4-2 lead. Later in the inning, Luca Lopetrone crossed home plate on a triple by Ryan Nakajima who later scored on a passed ball.

Middlebury scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 6-4. In the bottom of the seventh, the Panthers exploded for six runs. Carter Chi blased a grand slam to clear the bases and two batters later, Kyle McCausland hit a two-run home run to push the Panthers' lead to 10-6.

Dylan Knightly picked up his fifth win of the season, throwing the final three innings without giving up a hit and tregistering wo strikeouts. Carter finished the day with five RBI while McCausland (2-for-5) and Nathan Samii (3-for-5) combined for five of Middlebury's 11 hits.

Nakajima led the Ephs with a 3-for-4 effort, one run scored, and one RBI. Ben Swank also had three hits for Williams and scored once.

The Ephs advanced to their first championship series since 2019 with an 8-7 win over the East's top seed, Colby. Williams came back from trailing 5-1 to tie the score up at 5-5 in the bottom of the fifth. Colby regained a one-run lead in the top of the sixth, but the Ephs plated one run in the bottom of the frame to close the margin to 7-6. Williams tied the game in the seventh on a homer by James O'Connor and Burrell II's RBI single in the eighth pushed the Ephs' lead to 8-7 for the eventual win.

Swank, Burrell II, and Nakajima each had two hits for Williams. Lucas Asanovic picked up the win, allowing one hit in 1.1 innings of work.