WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team battled its way to pick up a pair of wins Wednesday afternoon in a doubleheader sweep of visiting Saint Vincent College at Ross Memorial Park. The Presidents scored the final seven runs to rally for a 10-9 win in game one. W&J took game two by an 8-5 score to secure the conference sweep. 

Game One - W&J 10, Saint Vincent 9 

The Presidents had to play from behind from the get go in game one. Saint Vincent scored in each of the first five innings. Some hard hitting by the Bearcats coupled with several defensive miscues by the Presidents allowed the visitors to open up a 5-0 lead midway through the second inning. W&J responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the third. A sac fly by Nolan Lutz (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) got the Presidents on the board. The Presidents got a RBI single from Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio / Wellington School) and a RBI double by Josh Dezenzo () to trim the deficit to 5-3. 

Saint Vincent scored twice in the fourth and two more times in the fifth to take a commanding 9-3 lead. The Presidents went down quietly in the fifth and sixth innings at the plate. W&J started chipping away at the six-run deficit in the seventh. W&J would score three runs on two hits in the frame. The first four Presidents reached base. Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y./Canisius) singled and a pair of walks followed to load the bases. Zaas came through with a two-run single that trimmed the SVC lead to 9-5. A pitching change helped the Bearcats limit the damage, as W&J plated just one more run in the inning. A sac fly by Dezenzo scored Drew Garth (Glenshaw, Pa./North Hills) to make the score 9-6. 

The visitors maintained the three-run lead entering the bottom of the ninth. W&J completed the comeback with four runs on five hits in their final at bat. Garth led off the frame with a solo home run, his third of the season, to bring W&J within two runs at 9-7. Lutz was hit by a pitch in the following at bat thus bringing the tying run to the plate. After a pitching change by SVC, Zaas and Dezenso smacked back-to-back singles to trim the deficit to 9-8. After a failed sac bunt attempt, Sam Schuster (Fairport Harbor, Ohio / Fairport Harding) came through with a two-strike RBI double down the left field line to plate Dezenzo to even the score at 9-9. 

Two batters later, LaDuca walked things off for a second time this season. The junior shortstop send a ball back up the middle that was deflected by the SVC pitcher. Nobody for the Bearcats could reach the ball in time to make a play for the third out before the winning run scored.

LaDuca finished with four hits and two runs scored in the victory. Zaas collected three hits and three RBI. Dezenzo and Stern each finished with two hits apiece. 

Brandon Bastian (Barto, Pa./The Hill School) improved his record to 2-0 with a pair of scoreless innings in relief. 


Game Two - W&J 8, Saint Vincent 5

Just as they did in game one, the visiting Bearcats pushed out to an early lead. A two-run homer by Billy Perroz gave Saint Vincent a 2-0 lead after the top of the first inning. The Bearcats tacked on a third run with an RBI single in the top of the third inning. 

The Presidents evened the score with a big fourth inning. The Red and Black scored three times on three hits in the frame to tie the score at 3-3. Three-straight Presidents reached to begin the inning. Zaas brought home a pair with a two-run double to right center field. A RBI single by Zac Stern (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) plated Zaas to even things up after four frames. 

Saint Vincent briefly regained the lead with a two-out RBI double in the top of the sixth inning. However, the Presidents took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning. W&J batted around and scored five times in the sixth. Six-straight Presidents reached to open the inning. All five hits in the inning were singles. Back-to-back RBI singles by Brody Bartenstein (Corning, N.Y./Corning-Painted Post) and Andrew Miko (Portage, Pa./Portage) gave W&J a 6-4 lead. Eli Owens (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) later followed with a  two-run single up the middle to make the score 8-4. 

The Bearcats scored a run in the top of the eighth but could get no closer. Ethan Boring (Ligonier, Pa./Ligonier Valley) retired the side in order in the ninth for his first save of the season. 

Garth and Owens led the offense with multi-hit efforts in game two. Max Stanger (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph Collegiate) tossed three innings to earn the win in relief.

Ethan Marszalek (Katy, Texas/Seven Lakes) started and worked five solid innings on the mound. Marszalek allowed three runs on five hits. He struck out three and walked none. 

Up Next: W&J continues its busy 24 hours when they head to Beaver Falls for another conference doubleheader on Thursday, March 28. The Presidents face Geneva College with the twinbill starting at 1 p.m.