WASHINGTON, Pa. - The second-seeded Thomas More College baseball team defeated top- seeded Washington & Jefferson College, 8-7, in 10 innings today (Saturday, May 10, 2014) to win the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament at Ross Memorial Park in Washington, Pennsylvania.

With the win, the Saints improve to 23-17 and earn the conference's automatic bid to next week's NCAA Division III Championship Tournament next week.  The NCAA will announce the tournament field and regional locations on Monday (May 12) morning on www.ncaa.com.  With the loss, the Presidents fall to 29-15.

W&J led 5-1 after three innings and Thomas More answered with three runs in the fourth to cut the lead to 5-4.  W&J extended the lead to 6-4 with a run in the sixth, but the Saints answered with three runs in the seventh to take a 7-6 lead.  The Presidents plated a run in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.  In the top of the 10th, junior catcher Brad Popham (Edgewood, Ky./Dixie Heights) hit a SAC fly scoring senior third baseman Travis Miller (Erlanger, Ky./St. Henry) for the eventual game-winning run as Thomas More shutout W&J in the bottom half of the inning for the 8-7 win. 

Senior pitcher Andy Roenker (Taylor Mill, Ky./Holy Cross) earned a no-decision as he pitched six and a third innings and gave up six runs (two earned) on 10 hits, while striking out two.  Freshman pitcher Ken Ruberg (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) earned the win as he pitched three and two-third innings of relief and gave up one run (earned) on three hits, while striking out three.

Senior first baseman Craig Hyson (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) led the team at the plate as he was two-for-five with two doubles, a run batted-in and two runs scored.  Two other Saints had multiple hits int he game as Popham was two-for-four with a double and two RBI and junior left fielder Nick Connor (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) was two-for-four with a RBI and a run scored.