April 7, 2002

MIDDLEBURY, VT – Senior first baseman Jim Hochrein (Greenfield, MA) snapped a 0-0 stalemate with a two-run single in the top of the 16th inning as the Amherst College baseball team took the last of a three game set at Middlebury College, 2-0, on Sunday. The Jeffs and Panthers also split a NESCAC West Division twinbill on Saturday. 

Amherst manufactured its game-winning, 16th-innning rally with a walk, a balk, an intentional walk, a sacrifice bunt and another intentional walk prior to Hochrein's single. The deciding base hit was one of just six Amherst hits on the day, all singles by different players. 

The game was marked by outstanding starting pitching as Amherst's Jeff Leduc (Pittsfield, MA) and Middlebury's Chris Fraser each pitched 12 inning of shutout baseball. Sophomore Andy Kerns (Barrington, IL) took over for Leduc in the 13th inning and pitched four scoreless innings, earning his first win of the season to improve to 1-2. Middlebury reliever Brian Vickery also pitched four innings, including three scoreless, but took the loss to fall to 0-2. 

The host Panthers had several chances to win the game, including an apparently successful suicide-squeeze attempt in the eighth inning. However, an umpire ruled that the batter, Jason Hanna, stepped on home plate while executing the bunt and the run was disallowed. Middlebury then had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th, but was unable to crack the scoring column against Leduc, who surrendered just five hits and finished with 13 strikeouts. 

Amherst move to 9-10 overall and 2-4 in NESCAC West Division play with the win, while Middlebury fell to 5-8 and 2-4. The Jeffs return to action Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. against visiting non-league foe Eastern Connecticut State University. 

Click HERE for full box score...