STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – The No. 7 Washington & Jefferson College baseball team totaled 34 runs on 43 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Franciscan University on Sunday afternoon. The Presidents won by a 20-6 score in game one before adding a 14-2 victory in game two to complete the four-game series sweep.
The sweep improves W&J to 27-1 overall and 20-1 in PAC games.
Game 1 – W&J 20, Franciscan 6
The Presidents scored 20 runs on a season-high 20 hits to roll to the game one victory. All nine W&J starters had at least one hit. Three Presidents finished with three hits while five others had two hits apiece.
W&J opened the scoring with three runs in the top of the second inning. A two-out RBI triple by Luke Virag (New Kensington, Pa./Burrell) scored Evan Sante (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) to make it 1-0 W&J. Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) and Peter Kalinski (Washington, D.C./Saint John's College) followed with RBI singles to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Presidents tacked on two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Logan Scheider (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) led off with a double and scored on a two-out RBI single by Kalinski. Adam Morris (South Park, Pa./South Park) followed with an RBI single that plated Kalinski to extend the lead to 5-0.
Franciscan cut into W&J's lead with two runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth inning. However, the Presidents responded with five runs in the top of the fifth to build upon its lead. W&J loaded the bases with no outs and Scheider later delivered a two-run single that made it a five-run advantage. Virag added a sacrifice fly to extend the Presidents' lead to six runs. Horvat had the big hit of the inning, as the W&J right fielder launched a two-run home run that extended the lead to 10-2.
The Barons would not go quietly, as the hosts tallied a pair of runs in the fifth before adding two more in the sixth inning on a home run by Dylan Robb that cut the deficit to 10-6. The home run by Robb knocked W&J starter Nick Drake (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) out of the game after 5.1 innings.
W&J plated four more runs in the top of the seventh inning. Virag, Kalinski and Morris collected RBI hits in frame as the Presidents pushed its lead to 14-6.
Scheider picked up his third hit and third RBI with a single that scored Michael Zito (Nashville, Tenn./Hume-Fogg) in the eighth. Later in the inning, Morris sent a grand slam over the right field fence to extend the lead to 20-6.
Drake tossed 5.1 innings to move his record to 5-0. He gave up six runs on eight hits.
Jameson Campbell (Painesville, Ohio/Painesville Riverside) allowed just one hit in 1.2 innings of work in relief of Drake. Kamden Kautz (Oro Valley, Ariz./Ironwood Ridge) finished up by striking out five of the seven batters he faced in two innings.
Morris finished with three hits and six RBI. Kalinski recorded three hits, three RBI and three runs scored. Scheider finished with three hits, three RBI and four runs scored. Virag had four RBI.
Game Two – W&J 14, Franciscan 2
The Presidents scored 14 more runs on a season-high 23 hits in the nightcap to complete the doubleheader sweep.
W&J jumped on Franciscan for five runs on seven hits in the top of the first inning of game two. Tony Tamilia(Coraopolis, Pa./Moon) produced an RBI double to open the scoring. Kalinski and Sam Quinn (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) recorded RBI singles to extend the lead to 3-0. A batter later, Alec Jackson (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) made the margin 5-0 with his first collegiate home run.
The Presidents scored four more runs in the fourth. A two-run triple by Nate Rush (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School) scored Kalinski and Morris to make it 7-0 W&J in the fourth. Quinn and Scheider tacked on RBI singles to extend the advantage to 9-0.
W&J added five more runs in the top of the fifth. Rush recorded an RBI triple, Jackson drove home two more runs with his fourth hit of game two and Roman Samson (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep) brought home a pair with an RBI single that stretch the lead to 14-0.
The Barons finally got on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Those runs closed the scoring at 14-2.
Shane Fox (Valencia, Pa./Mars Area) got the start and worked 4.0 scoreless innings. Mason Kolbe (Bradenton, Fla./Out-of-Door Academy) tossed a scoreless inning of relief in the fifth inning. Zito recorded the final six outs, five of which came via strikeout, to end the game.
W&J is scheduled to face Thiel College in a four-game series on May 1-2.