WASHINGTON PA. – The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team earned a doubleheader split Wednesday afternoon with the visiting Point Park Pioneers. The Presidents and Pioneers battled through two seven-inning games at Ross Memorial Park. 
 
W&J moves to 17-8 overall with the split. Point Park, a member of the NAIA, is now 29-12 overall. 

Game One - Point Park 12, W&J 6
 
The Pioneers opened the scoring quickly with a solo home run in the top of the first inning. 
 
W&J responded calm and collectedly with three straight singles from Drew Garth (Glenshaw, Pa./North Hills), Nolan Lutz (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette), and Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio / Wellington School) consecutively to put across the first W&J run and tie the score. 
 
A fielder's choice on the following play would plate Lutz to give W&J the lead. A single by Brody Bartenstein (Corning, N.Y. / Corning-Painted Post) would set up an opportunity for Jake Stiehl (Reston, Va./South Lakes), who smacked his first collegiate home run over the left center field fence to swell the lead to 5-1. 
 
Point Park would get a run back in the top of the second to trim the deficit to 5-2. The Pioneers took the lead for good in the fourth inning. A two-out three-run home run by Omar Morillo evened the score at 5-5. A walk and a triple followed which put the Pioneers in front. 

A two-run home run by Eddie Javier Jr. and an RBI single by Morillio helped PPU open up a 9-5 advantage. 
 
W&J would get a run back in the fifth. A hustle double by Ben Schuler (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) set up the score. Schuler advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a passed ball later in the frame.
 
The Pioneers would tally their final three runs of the game in the top of the sixth to conclude the scoring. 

Garth logged the lone multi-hit game for the Presidents in the opener. Stiehl accounted for most of the damage with his three-run home run. 

Freshman pitcher Thomas McLaren (Mars, Pa./Mars Area) would suffer the loss for the Presidents.
 
Game Two – W&J 10, Point Park 7
 
Both teams would register two runs in the first inning. The Presidents would score theirs on an RBI double from Zaas and sacrifice fly from Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y./Canisius).
 
The Presidents put up five runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good. Lutz drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a single by Zaas. A drawn walk by Joe Lehner (Painesville, Ohio / Lake Catholic) loaded the bases. Sam Schuster (Fairport Harbor, Ohio / Fairport Harding) would capitalize on the situation with two-run double to right center. A fielder's choice would then score Lehner from third. W&J made it a crooked number when a two-run double to right center by Zac Stern (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) swelled the lead to 7-2.
 
The Pioneers responded with a two-run home run by Chrixten Tavares in the top half of the fourth inning to cut the W&J lead to 7-4. W&J got one back in the bottom of the inning when Lutz led off with a double and eventually scored on a sac fly by LaDuca. 
 
W&J tacked on two important insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. All of the damage came with two outs as Zaas singled through the left side and advanced to third on a double by LaDuca. Batting for the first time in the game, John Klein (Vienna, Va./Madison) came through with a two-run double down the left field line to make it 10-4. 
 
Despite a three run rally by the Point Park in the final frame of the game, a strikeout by Ethan Boring (Ligonier, Pa./Ligonier Valley) would end the game as W&J secured the 10-7 victory. 
 
Julian Elizondo (Manassas, Va. / Osbourn) would work two scoreless innings of relief and recorded four strikeouts to notch his first collegiate victory. Nate Nolan (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) also turned in a strong appearance with two scoreless innings earlier in the game. 

Zaas, the reigning PAC Hitter of the Week, went 4-for-4 at the plate in game two. W&J had six doubles as part of their 10 hit effort in the win.

The win snaps a four-game losing skid in the head-to-head series with Point Park. The win was the first for W&J versus the Pioneers since March 19, 2019. The two programs did not meet in 2020, 2021 or 2022. 

W&J returns to action on Saturday when they host Bethany College for a conference doubleheader. Due to a site change, Bethany will serve as the home team. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Ross Memorial Park.