HIGH POINT, N.C. -- The second-ranked Washington & Jefferson College baseball suffered a 9-2 loss to Birmingham-Southern an elimination game Saturday morning at the six-team, double-elimination NCAA Division III High Point, N.C. Regional at Truist Point.
 
The loss ends the Presidents' season with an overall record of 37-3. The 37 wins are the third most in single-season history for W&J. That total trails only the 2017 (42 wins) and 2019 (38 wins) squads that reached the Division III College World Series. Their .925 winning percentage currently ranks as the best in Division III in 2021. The class of 2021 finished their four-year careers with 106 victories. 
 
Birmingham-Southern, who beat W&J twice at the High Point Regional, improves to 27-15. Birmingham-Southern advances to face either Salisbury or Lynchburg in Game 10 of the Regional with an estimated 5 p.m. start Saturday.
 
W&J couldn't quite get things going offensively, as they scored a season-low two runs and left 12 runners on base in the game.
 
The Presidents were turned away in the top of the second inning. A one-out triple by Michael Zito (Nashville, Tenn./Hume-Fogg) set W&J up with a chance to score first. However, Zito was thrown out at home breaking on contact on a ground ball by Nate Rush (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School). 
 
Birmingham-Southern scored first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. The Panthers leadoff hitter reached on a hit by pitch and Ian Hancock followed with an RBI triple to center field. An RBI groundout plated Hancock to make it 2-0. 
 
Possibly the game's most critical play came in the bottom of the third inning. With a pair of runners on base and two outs, Adam Morris (South Park, Pa./South Park) sent a towering drive deep into right center field. The ball appeared that it would go over the fence for a three-run go-ahead home run to five W&J the lead. However, Panthers right fielder Cole Steadman made a leaping grab to rob Morris and the Presidents. 
 
BSC strengthened its lead with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Noah Best, the Panthers' No. 9 batter, blasted a three-run home run over the 400-foot sign in dead center field. The Best home run made the score 5-0 Panthers.
 
The Presidents had a chance to cut into the Panthers' lead in the top of the sixth. A pair of walks wrapped around a single by Adam Moore (Olean, N.Y./Archbishop Walsh) loaded the bases. However, Panthers starter Ricky Harrison was able to get a fly out on a 3-2 pitch to end the threat.
 
W&J recorded its first run of the game in the top of the seventh. Jason Gregovits (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake) singled and moved to third on a double by Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford). An RBI groundout by Peter Kalinski (Washington, D.C./Saint John's College) scored Gregovits. W&J was unable to get any closer, as two more runners were stranded in the frame. 
 
BSC tacked on three additional runs on four hits in the bottom of the eighth to put the game away. Alec Jackson(Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) and Nicholas Krugh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton LaSalle) recorded pinch hits in the ninth to help W&J load the bases. Moore drew a bases loaded walk to bring home Jackson and make the score 9-2.
 
Nick Drake (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) started and suffered the loss. The senior allowed five runs over 4.1 innings on the mound. He walked one and struck out one.