GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team battled its way to a pair of narrow 6-5 victories over host Grove City College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader on Monday. 

The close victories gives W&J a four-game sweep of a strong Grove City team. The four games were decided by a total of five runs. 

The sweep improves W&J to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in league games. Grove City falls to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play. 

Game 1 - W&J 6, Grove City 5

Trailing by a 2-1 score, W&J pushed two runs across in the top of the fourth inning to take a 3-2 edge. After a run-scoring force out tied the score, Rush delivered an RBI single to score Trevor Dean (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo). Peter Kalinski (Washington, D.C./Saint John's College) slugged a solo home run down the left field line in the fifth to extend the advantage to 4-2. 

Grove City scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 5-4 edge into the top of the seventh. The Wolverines were just three outs away from taking game one.

However, Kalinski reached base via a hit by pitch to start the rally. Adam Morris (South Park, Pa./South Park) continued to terrorize the Wolverines, as he produced a game-tying RBI triple to score Kalinski. Two batters later, Dean did what he needed to do, as the sophomore brought Morris home with a go-ahead sac fly to make the score 6-5 in favor of W&J. 

The Wolverines put the leadoff man on base in the bottom of the frame. Michael Zito (Nashville, Tenn./Hume-Fogg) was able to punch out the next batter before getting a 6-3 lineout double play to finish off the victory. Zito picked up the win with 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. Nick Drake (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) got the start and allowed two unearned runs in 4.2 innings. 

Rush finished 4-for-4 at the plate as the junior accounted for half of W&J's eight hits in game one. Kalinski had two RBI and two runs scored. The Presidents were able to overcome four errors defensively in the opener. 

Game 2 - W&J 6, Grove City 5

W&J got on the board first in the nightcap, as they drew three walks in the top of the first. Mike Graziani(Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) drew an RBI walk to make the score 1-0 W&J after a half inning of play. 

The Wolverines took advantage of a defensive miscue by the Presidents in the bottom of the second inning, which allowed the hosts to push four unearned runs across.  Trailing by three runs, Adam Moore (Olean, N.Y./Archbishop Walsh) was able to get one back with a sac fly that plated Kalinski in the top of the third inning. The Wolverines tacked on another run in the bottom half of the frame to take a 5-2 edge. 

A wild pitch and throwing error allowed Morris to trot home in the fifth. That run trimmed the deficit to 5-3. 

Kalinski greeted Jacob Brothers with a three-run go-ahead home run that helped W&J regain the lead at 6-5 in the top of the sixth inning. The home run was Kalinski's third already in 2021. 

Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) moved to 2-0 on the mound. The sophomore allowed only one earned run in 6.0 innings of work. Horvat struck out seven and walked just one.

Mason Kolbe (Bradenton, Fla./Out-of-Door Academy), Kamden Kautz (Oro Valley, Ariz./Ironwood Ridge) and Zito combined to slam the door. The bullpen trio combined to work the final 3.0 innings out of the pen. Zito tossed a quick 1-2-3 inning in the ninth for his third save. 

Kalinski finished with three hits, three RBI and three runs scored in game two. Morris added a three-hit effort as he finished off a 5-for-10 weekend at the plate against Grove City. 

W&J hosts Westminster College for a league twinbill on Saturday, March 27. First pitch from Ross Memorial Park is scheduled for 1 p.m.