WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Nick Drake (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) recorded a season-high eight strikeouts and allowed just one hit in seven innings to power top-seeded Washington & Jefferson to a 3-0 victory over Saint Vincent in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship round Saturday afternoon at Ross Memorial Park.
As it has throughout the season, strong starting pitching continued to be the story for the Presidents. The W&J pitching staff surrendered just one run and nine hits over the 27 innings during their three games in the PAC Tournament.
The victory gives W&J's its second straight PAC title and 13th overall. The title is the ninth under the tutelage of 19th year head coach Jeff Mountain.
By virtue of earning this year's PAC Championship Tournament, W&J earns the league's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship, with regional round play scheduled for Thursday-Monday, May 27-31. Team selections for the Division III Championship are scheduled to be announced Sunday, May 23.
Just as it did in the first two games of the tournament, the offense produced a first-inning run that allowed the Presidents to play with a lead for the duration of the game.
Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) was right in the middle of the action. The sophomore drew a leadoff walk, stole second base and moved to third base on a single by Adam Morris (South Park, Pa./South Park). A batter later, a fielders choice RBI groundout by Adam Moore (Olean, N.Y./Archbishop Walsh) plated Horvat for the game's first run.
Horvat drew another walk to lead off the third inning. He proceeded to steal second base and moved to third on a fly out by Peter Kalinski (Washington, D.C./Saint John's College). An RBI groundout by Morris extended W&J's lead to 2-0.
Drake continued to work efficiently and limited Saint Vincent to just one baserunner through the first five innings. Saint Vincent put a runner into scoring position for the first time in the sixth inning. However, Drake struck out Jordan Sabol to end the threat.
Just as Henry Litman (Marietta, Ga./Walton) did on Friday, Drake carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning. An infield single by SVC second baseman Matt Evans broke up the no-hitter. Two batters later, a walk and wild pitch put the potential tying run in scoring position with just one out. However, Drake struck out Justin Wright for the second out and punched out pinch hitter Ben Menarchek to end the threat.
The Presidents added an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning. Morris drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on an RBI single by Nate Rush (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School). Rush finished with two hits for W&J. Michael Zito (Nashville, Tenn./Hume-Fogg) recorded the final six outs for his PAC-leading seventh save.
W&J will carry a 36-1 record into the 2021 Division III Championship Tournament. The 36 wins for the Presidents are currently the most among Division III teams. Saint Vincent concludes its season with an overall record of 17-18.
PLEASE NOTE: Following the conclusion of the tournament, Horvat was named the Most Outstanding Player of the PAC Tournament. He was joined by Litman, Drake and Jason Gregovits (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake) on the PAC All-Tournament Team.