WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) scored Trevor Dean (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning as the top-seeded Washington & Jefferson baseball team outlasted fourth-seeded Westminster College by a 10-9 score Thursday afternoon in the opening game of the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament. 

The win improves W&J to 33-8 overall while Westminster drops to 22-18 in 2022. The Presidents will face third-seeded Grove City in the winner's bracket final on Friday at 12 p.m. The Wolverines used a two-run home run by Nico Rodriguez in the top of the ninth inning to beat Saint Vincent by an 8-7 score in Thursday's second game. The Titans and Bearcats will play in an elimination game at 3 p.m. Friday at Ross Memorial Park.

Thursday's game marked the first meeting between W&J and Westminster in the PAC Tournament since the two programs met in the 2012 championship round. 

The game marked the first extra inning affair in the PAC Tournament since W&J claimed a 9-8 win in 10 innings over Thiel in Game A of the 2017 PAC Tournament. Thursday's first game featured six lead changes and three ties. 

Nate Rush (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School) singled with one out and scored on a two-out RBI single by Roman Samson (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep) to stake the Presidents to an early 1-0 lead after the first inning.

Westminster used a five-run top of the second inning to take a commanding advantage. An error and hit by pitch aided the Titans as four of the five runs in the frame were unearned. Logan Murgenovich delivered a two-out, two-run double to stretch the Titans lead to 5-1.  

Faced with its largest deficit against a PAC opponent this season, W&J began chipping away at the Westminster lead. In the second inning, the Presidents loaded the bases with no outs but settled for a single run on an RBI groundout by Horvat.

The Red and Black bats came alive in the fourth inning. The Presidents tallied three runs on three hits in the frame to tie the score at 5-5. Dean smacked a solo shot to left center. His first collegiate home run cut the deficit to 5-3. Later in the inning, Peter Kalinski (Washington, D.C./Saint John's College) came through with a two-run single with two outs to even the score. 

After Westminster regained the lead (6-5) with a run in the top of the sixth inning, W&J countered with a two-run triple by Jason Gregovits (Avon Lake, Ohio/Avon Lake) in the bottom of the seventh inning that gave the hosts a 7-6 edge. Both teams tallied a run in the eighth inning. A single by LaDuca in the bottom of the eighth allowed W&J to take an 8-7 lead into the ninth. 

However, the Titans were far from done, as they battled back to regain the lead once more. Down to its final out and final strike in the ninth, Carter Chinn smacked a towering two-run home run to right center to give the Titans a 9-8 lead. 

Trailing by a run and down to its final three outs, Gregovits provided more heroics. His one-out triple set the stage for Horvat to tie the game with a RBI single back up the middle. The game remained tied at 9-9 until the bottom of the 11th inning. Dean led off with a single and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Gregovits. Horvat followed with the game-winning single down the right field line to score Dean. 

Horvat registered with three hits and three RBI. Making just his seventh start of the season, Dean made the most of his opportunity, finishing with three hits, a home run and two runs scored. Samson, LaDuca, Gregovits and Joe Lehner (Painesville, Ohio/Lake Catholic) recorded two hits apiece in a 17-hit effort. 

Horvat started and took a no-decision as he tossed 7.0 innings. He gave up two earned runs and scattered 10 hits. Horvat struck out five and did not issue a walk. 

Cameron Hayman (Windsor, Calif./Windsor) tossed a scoreless 11th inning to earn the win. 

NOTES: The win was W&J's 11th straight versus Westminster. The victory was the ninth straight for the Presidents against the Titans at Ross Memorial Park.