DALLAS, Pa. – A four-run ninth inning by Misericordia University broke a tie and lifted the host Cougars to a 12-8 victory over the Washington & Jefferson College baseball team Saturday evening in an elimination game in the NCAA Division III Baseball Regional at Tambur Field in Dallas, Pa.
The loss ends the Presidents season at 32-14 overall. The win improves the Cougars to 35-13 overall and into Sunday's regional championship round against Salve Regina.
Both teams battled through a back-and-forth affair that featured five lead changes and four ties.
After Dante DiMatteo (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) worked out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the inning, W&J jumped out to an early lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. A leadoff double by Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) jump-started the frame. A one-out error allowed Nolan Lutz (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) to reach base and set up an RBI single by Evan Sante (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) that gave W&J the initial run of the game. Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio/Wellington School) followed with an RBI fielder's choice groundout to make it 2-0.
The Cougars tied the score in the top of the second inning with RBI hits by Garrett McIlhenney and Brock Bollinger.
Dan Beistel (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) and Logan Scheider (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) produced back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the second. However, the Presidents could not regain the lead, as the next two hitters were retired.
W&J did push back in front with a run in the bottom of the third inning. Sante drew a one-out walk and scored when Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y./Canisius) pulled a double off the left field wall to make it 3-2 W&J after three innings of play.
DiMatteo left with the lead intact after tossing a collegiate-high five innings. He allowed just two runs on five hits.
Misericordia scored four times on five hits in the top of the sixth. That outburst gave the Cougars their first lead of the game. A two-run shot by Bollinger pushed the Cougars in front.
The Presidents answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Zaas led off the frame with his fourth home run of the season. Later in the inning, Scheider continued his strong weekend with an RBI single to left center that plated Dezenzo, who doubled earlier in the inning.
After Misericordia tallied a run in the top of the seventh, W&J responded with a three-spot in the bottom of the frame. A one-out single by Lutz was followed with a two-run home run by Sante that tied the score at 7-7. Later in the inning, Scheider drew a bases loaded walk to put the Presidents back in front at 8-7.
The Cougars countered with a run in the top of the eighth. They threatened for more, but Shane Fox (Valencia, Pa./Mars Area) worked out of the jam in his second appearance of the day.
W&J had a chance to regain the lead in the bottom of the frame but left the bases loaded. Misericordia struck for four runs on three hits in the top of the ninth to claim the victory. A one-out bloop double made it 9-8. A bases clearing single on a 3-2 pitch with two outs gave Misericordia three insurance runs.
Sante led the offense by reaching base four times, recording three RBI and scoring two runs in his final game in the Red and Black.
Scheider and LaDuca paced the offense with three hits apiece. Lutz also recorded a multi-hit effort.
The Presidents bats finished the weekend with 33 runs and totaled 42 hits over the three games. W&J scored at least seven runs in each of the three NCAA regional contests.
Fox suffered the loss in relief despite a gutsy effort. He earned the decisions in both games Saturday. The senior came back after throwing 52 pitches over 3.1 scoreless innings in recording the win just hours earlier in the win over Keystone.
W&J earned its 15th conference title last week and made its 10th appearance in the NCAA Championship. W&J finished with 30 or more wins for the 12th time in program history. The Presidents will lose Sante, Scheider, Horvat, Fox, Beistel, Trevor Dean (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo), Mason Kolbe (Bradenton, Fla./Out-of-Door Academy), Cameron Hayman (Windsor, Calif./Windsor), Luke Virag (New Kensington, Pa./Burrell) and Tony Tamilia (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon) to graduation.