WASHINGTON, Pa. – The top-seeded Washington & Jefferson College baseball team backed a stellar pitching performance with a 17-hit output to down second-seeded Grove City College by a 12-5 score in the winner's bracket final Friday to earn a spot in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament title round at Ross Memorial Park in Washington, Pa.
W&J, who improves to 31-12 overall, will play for its fifth-straight PAC title on Saturday. W&J has won 15-straight PAC Tournament games dating back to the start of the 2019 season. W&J will be aiming for its 16th PAC title overall.
The Presidents will face Grove City, who earned an 8-4 win over fifth-seeded Westminster in Friday night's finale. Grove City, who has won three conference titles, is attempting to claim its first title since 2008. The Wolverines are 27-13 overall in the 2024 season.
The top five Presidents in the order recorded multi-hit games during the strong offensive performance. Drew Garth (Glenshaw, Pa./North Hills) powered the Presidents with two hits, two runs scored and four runs driven in.
Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y./Canisius) and Zac Stern (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) both recorded three-hit games. Stern drove in three. Nolan Lutz (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) and Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio/Wellington School) both finished with two hits and two RBI's.
The Presidents struck early and often as they registered runs in three of the first four innings. After a six pitch, three up three down inning for starting pitcher Ethan Marszalek (Katy, Texas / Seven Lakes), the Presidents were able to push two across in the bottom of the first to jump out to an early 2-0 lead.
LaDuca one-hopped the left centerfield fence with a leadoff double to start the threat for the Red & Black. Garth followed with a single to left field that scored LaDuca for the first run of the game. After moving to second on a the throw home on his RBI hit, Garth scored on an RBI single through the middle by Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio/Wellington School) then powered an RBI single through the right side to make it 2-0.
Marszalek would quickly shut down the Wolverines with a five-pitch inning. That allowed the Presidents to get back to the bat rack.
Brendan Cruz (Carnegie, Pa./Chartiers Valley) led off with a single and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Ben Schuler (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette). Two batters later, Garth slugged his ninth home run of the season.
Grove City used a pair of hits, including a two-out RBI triple by Sam Bevin to cut the W&J lead to 4-1 after three innings of play.
The Wolverines wouldn't find the scoring column again until the seventh inning while the Presidents on the other hand kept things rolling.
The Red & Black tallied four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to chase the Grove City starter Bevin.
A leadoff single from Ben Schuler (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) would start the rally. LaDuca followed with a long single to right center that moved Schuler to third. A sacrifice fly to centerfield from Garth made it 5-1.
Two RBI singles through the left and right side from Nolan Lutz (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) and Zaas, respectively, scored the next two. After advancing on a single from Zac Stern (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour), Zaas would break for home on a wild pitch to score the final run of the inning for the Presidents.
Lutz and Zaas tacked on RBI singles stretched the lead to 7-1. Zaas later scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-1.
W&J put up four more in the bottom of the sixth as well. After LaDuca led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch, Lutz singled to the left field to score LaDuca to make it 9-1. Two batters later, Stern launched a three-run home run to make it 12-1. The home run was the fourth of the season for Stern.
Grove City scored a run in the seventh and three in the ninth to close out the scoring.
Marszalek turned in a stellar efficient outing on the mound. The junior scattered eight hits over eight innings of work. He struck out four and did not issue a walk as he improved his record to 3-1.
Saturday will mark the first meeting between W&J and Grove City in the title round since 2017 when W&J had to beat Grove City twice to capture the title. W&J will need one win to capture the conference title. Grove City must defeat W&J twice on Saturday to claim the conference crown. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.