(WASHINGTON, Pa.) – The third-seeded Thomas More College baseball team fell, 9-3, to top-seeded Washington & Jefferson College today (Saturday, May 11, 2013) in the championship game of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament at Ross Memorial Park in Washington, Pennsylvania.
With the win, the Presidents improve to 30-11 and earn the PAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament next week. With the loss, the Saints fall to 29-14 and must wait until Monday (May 13) morning to see if they receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Division III Championship field and regional assignments will be announced on Monday on the NCAA Championship Website (www.ncaa.com) early in the morning.
W&J jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings as it plated three runs in the first and two in the second. The Saints cut the lead to 5-2 in the top of the third when senior right fielder Ryan Darner (Burlington, Ky./Covington Catholic) had a run batted-in double scoring senior shortstop David Kennett (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) and junior center fielder Cody Makin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) hit a RBI single scoring Darner.
In the top of the fourth inning Thomas More cut the lead to 5-3 when sophomore first baseman Craig Hyson (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) scored on a ground out by freshman pinch hitter Donovan Pogue (Sharonville, Ohio/St. Xavier). W&J would then score one in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth and hold Thomas More scoreless the final five innings for the 9-3 victory.
Thomas More was led at the plate by Kennett, who
was three-for-four with a run scored. Three other Saints had
multiple hits in the game as Darner was
two-for-five with two doubles, a RBI and a run scored,
Hyson was two-for-two with a run scored and
sophomore designated hitter Nick Connor (Cincinnati,
Ohio/Elder) was two-for-four with a double.
Sophomore pitcher Tyler Jones (Rising Sun, Ind./Rising Sun) suffered the loss on the mound as he pitched four and two-third innings and gave up five runs (all earned) on six hits. Senior pitcher David Etscheid (Union, Ky./Ryle) pitched three and a third innings of relief and gave up four runs (two earned) on seven hits.