DAVENPORT, Fla. -- Connor Helm (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) smacked a walk-off two-run single to help the Washington & Jefferson College baseball team pull out a 5-4 extra inning game one win and eventually a doubleheader sweep of the College of Wooster Friday afternoon in Spring Break action at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. W&J won game two by an 8-1 margin to complete the sweep of the Fightin' Scots.
The sweep improves W&J's overall record to 11-5. Wooster, a team that advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals last season, drops to 5-8 overall.
Game One - W&J 5, Wooster 4 (8 innings)
Coming off back-to-back matchups against Top 10 teams in NCAA Division III, the Presidents earned a hard-fought game one victory over Wooster.
The Presidents and Fighting Scots would trade runs in the first inning as Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio / Wellington School) singled in Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa. / Penn-Trafford) in response to the Wooster run in the top of the first inning.
Wooster regained the lead with a single run in the top of the second inning. Horvat singled and eventually came around to even the score at 2-2 after a Wooster error.
W&J took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Presidents played and executed small ball, as Jacob LaDuca(Clarence, N.Y. / Canisius) and Evan Sante (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) reached base and advanced on a sac bunt by Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio/Wellington School). Nolan Lutz (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) followed with a sac fly to right to score Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y. / Canisius) and give W&J a 3-2 advantage.
Dante DiMatteo (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) had a spectacular sixth inning of work but surrendered the tying run in the seventh when Garrett Mitchell smacked a one-out RBI triple to tie the score at 3-3. DiMatteo was able to limit the damage with a pair of strikeouts which stranded the potential go-ahead run for Wooster at third.
Wooster regained the lead a two-out RBI single in the top of the eighth. However, W&J provided a dramatic finish to take the game in the bottom half. Connor Helm (Murrysville, Pa. / Franklin Regional) stepped up with two on and two out for his first plate appearance of the day. Helm sent a ball to left field that would fall in and score both Sam Schuster (Fairport Harbor, Ohio / Fairport Harding) and Zach Scherzer (Douglassville, Pa. / Daniel Boone) and give W&J the 5-4 win.
Tyler Horvat and Jacob LaDuca led W&J with two hits apiece in game one. Shane Fox (Valencia, Pa./Mars) tossed 4.2 effective innings while making the start.
Game Two - W&J 8, Wooster 1
A seven-run second inning propelled the Presidents to the sweep of Wooster. W&J tallied seven runs on seven hits and sent 13 players to the plate in the frame.
Luke Virag (New Kensington, Pa. / Burrell) had a RBI single to open the scoring. After an errant throw on a sac bunt attempt by Helm made it 2-0, Horvat followed with a two-run triple to push the lead to 4-0. Later in the inning, Travor Dean (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) smacked a two-run double to make it 6-0. W&J scored its seventh run when Virag was hit with the bases loaded to make it 7-0.
Dan Beistel (Canfield, Ohio / Canfield) blasted a solo home run in the fifth inning to cap the scoring.
Wooster would be silent offensively for the majority of the game as Horvat put in five innings of quality work to earn the victory. Horvat improved to 4-2 on the mound as he allowed just one run on three hits. Horvat struck out six and walked two.
Tyler Brooks (Alexandria, Va. / Saint John's College) and Will Frank (Davie, Fla. / NSU University School) recorded scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh, respectively, to finish off the victory.
Beistel finished game two with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate to lead the Presidents. Horvat and Zaas finished with two hits apiece.
On Deck: The Presidents head back north to complete the duration of its schedule. W&J is scheduled to travel to Saint Vincent on Tuesday, March 28. First pitch in Latrobe for the twinbill is scheduled for 1 p.m.