WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The No. 22 ranked Washington & Jefferson baseball team built an early lead and claimed a 9-3 victory over visiting Muskingum Wednesday evening at Ross Memorial Park.

The Presidents used effective pitching and timely hitting to record the victory over the Muskies. W&J improves to 3-2 overall while Muskingum falls to 0-1. 

Muskingum opened the scoring in the top of the first to take its only lead. W&J answered by scoring eight unanswered runs to take control of the game.  

The Presidents managed to tie the score in the bottom of the first when Nate Rush (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School) scored from third on a passed ball. 

A sacrifice fly to center by Rush plated Tony Tamilia (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon) to give W&J a 2-1 lead after two innings. 

W&J pushed five runs across in the third inning as they chased Muskingum starter Jaxon Rinks. 

Freshman Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio/Wellington School) launched a two-run double to stretch the lead to 4-1. Zaas would later score on a throwing error before an RBI single by Jason Gregovits (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake) made it 6-1. W&J added two more in the third and another in the fifth to take a commanding advantage. 

Sophomore pitcher Jackson Denney (Atlanta, Ga./Mount Vernon Presbyterian) improved to 2-0 on the mound. Denney tossed five strong innings. He allowed four hits, walked one and struck out two. Four relievers combined to toss four innings, allowing just one run on two hits.

Rush, Logan Scheider (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny), Peter Kalinski (Washington, D.C./Saint Johns College) and Evan Sante (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) recorded two hits apiece in an 11-hit attack. 

W&J will return to Ross Memorial Park on Friday, March 4 to host a non-conference game against La Roche University. First pitch for the single nine-inning game is slated for 3 p.m.