WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) tossed 7.0 strong innings and crushed a three-run home run as the No. 2 ranked Washington & Jefferson College beat Saint Vincent by a 7-1 score in the opening game of the 2021 Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon at Ross Memorial Park.
W&J improved its record to 34-1. The Presidents advance in the winners' bracket and will host Grove City at 12 p.m. in Game C of the PAC Tournament on Friday. Grove City beat Franciscan by a 9-3 score in Thursday's second game. Saint Vincent (15-17) will face Franciscan in an elimination game at 3 p.m. on Friday.
W&J opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first inning. After one out, Peter Kalinski (Washington, D.C./Saint John's College) singled and Adam Morris (South Park, Pa./South Park) walked to put a pair of runners on base. An RBI single by Adam Moore (Olean, N.Y./Archbishop Walsh) scored Kalinski to tally the game's initial run.
Horvat retired the first six Saint Vincent batters via ground ball out and allowed just one baserunner over the first five innings as the Presidents carried a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning.
A pair of singles and a fielders choice allowed Saint Vincent to load the bases in the top of the sixth. However, Horvat struck out TJ Dailey on a 3-2 pitch to escape the jam.
Horvatand Saint Vincent starter Jimmy Malone were locked in a pitchers' duel before W&J broke the game open with five runs on four hits in the bottom of sixth inning. An RBI single by Tony Tamilia (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon) scored Michael Zito (Nashville, Tenn./Hume-Fogg) to extend the Presidents' lead to 2-0. Two batters later, Jason Gregovits(Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake) drilled a ground-rule double that plated Tamiliato make it 3-0.
A three-run home run by Horvat down the right field line swelled W&J's lead to 6-0. The home run was the fourth in the past nine games for Horvat.
The Bearcats tallied their first run in the top of the seventh, as the visitors used a Ben Menarchek sac fly to break up the shutout. Saint Vincent threatened further damage as they loaded the bases with two outs. However, a lineout to center field allowed W&J to carry a 6-1 lead into the eighth inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Scheider doubled and scored on a groundout by Horvat that allowed W&J to plate its seventh run.
Horvat put together another strong outing to improve his record to 9-0. The sophomore limited Saint Vincent to one run on five hits. Horvat struck out four and walked two.
Kamden Kautz (Oro Valley, Ariz./Ironwood Ridge) tossed two scoreless innings of relief out of the bullpen.
Gregovits led the W&J offense with a 4-for-4 performance at the plate. Horvat tallied four RBI and Kalinski finished with a pair of hits.