WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team opened the home portion of its 2024 schedule Friday at Ross Memorial Park. The Presidents battled the visiting Case Western Reserve Spartans for the better part of nine hours and 22 total innings. CWRU was able to secure a sweep over W&J with scores in their final at bats in both games. 

The doubleheader, which started at 3 p.m., concluded just before the stroke of midnight following a 13-inning game one which saw the Spartans rally past the Presidents by a 10-7 score. CWRU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in game two before W&J posted a five-run seventh inning to draw even. CWRU once again scored its winning runs in its final at bat, pushing a pair across in the top of the ninth to take game tow.  

Game One – CWRU 10, W&J 7 (FINAL – 13 Innings)
 
The Presidents and Spartans played through a marathon game one. The game lasted 13 innings and spanned 4 hours and 23 minutes. 
 
W&J jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Presidents saw their first five hitters reach without the benefit of a hit. 
 
Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y. / Canisius) was hit by a pitch before three consecutive walks to Josh Dezenzo (Alliance, Ohio / Marlington), Nolan Lutz (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) and Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio / Wellington School) gave W&J its first run. Joe Lehner (Painesville, Ohio / Lake Catholic) followed with a bases-loaded hit by pitch to score Dezenzo and make it 2-0 Presidents. Brent Kurtz (Washington, Pa./Trinity) produced the lone hit of the frame, as his RBI infield single scored Lutz. 
 
CWRU immediately responded with four runs on four hits in the top of the second. A three-run double by Nick Harms with two outs pushed the Spartans in front. 
 
W&J evened the score in the bottom of the fourth with a single run. LaDuca and Dezenzo reached with back-to-back singles to start the inning. An fielder's choice two batters later scored LaDuca to make it 4-4. 
 
LaDuca stroked a one-out triple to the gap. LaDuca later scored on a wild pitch to help W&J take a 5-4 advantage. 
 
The Presidents seemed poised to take the opener as they tacked on two runs in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run, two-out single by Lutz. The hit stretched the Presidents' lead to 7-4 heading to the ninth. 
 
CWRU struck for three runs on two hits in the top of the ninth to tie the score. All three runs scored with two outs including a two-run single by James Powers that evened the score at 7-7.
 
W&J put a runner into scoring position in the 10^th and 11^th innings but failed to push across the game winner. CWRU finally broke through in the top of the 13th inning. The Spartans put up three runs in the inning. CWRU had a one-out solo home run by Nick Harms and a two-run home run by Tyler Stillson. W&J brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the 13th but CWRU retired the final two batters to pick up the victory. 
 
LaDuca put together a strong effort in the opener. The junior shortstop scored four runs and finished with two hits. 
 
Brendan Cruz (Carnegie, Pa./Chartiers Valley) suffered the loss. The freshman worked 2.2 innings of relief. He gave up three runs on six hits. Cruz struck out six batters including all three in the 11th inning. 
 
Dante DiMatteo (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) struck out eight over 4.2 innings of relief. 
 
Game Two – CWRU 7, W&J 5
 
CWRU took advantage of two wind-aided triples in the second inning to get on the board. The Spartans added two runs in the fourth and single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to build a 5-0 lead. 
 
W&J put a pair of runners in the bottom of the sixth inning. CWRU kept the Presidents off the scoreboard by retiring the final two hitters of the inning. 
 
The Presidents broke the ice in the bottom of the seventh. The Presidents put four of the first five batters on base in the inning. Lehner opened the inning with a single. A throwing error and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. Two batters later, John Klein (Vienna, Va. / Madison) got the Presidents on the board with an RBI single into left field to plate Lehner. 
 
A potential double play ball was booted on the next batter, which allowed another run to score to make it 5-2. After a walk to pinch hitter Andrew Colaizzi (Washington, D.C. / Jackson-Reed) brought home a run before Zaas evened the score at 5-5 on an infield single. Heads up base running by LaDuca allowed the junior to score all the way from second base on the play. 
 
CWRU pushed two runs across in the top of the ninth that were ultimately the difference. Jack Anderson reached via a hit by pitch to start the inning. Anderson squared around to bunt and it was ruled that he pulled back before getting hit by the pitch. CWRU followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Powers eventually came through with a one-out two-run single which proved to be the difference. 
 
LaDuca finished off a strong day. The junior recorded two more hits in the nightcap. LaDuca reached base seven times during the doubleheader. 
 
Anthony Pass (Clinton, Pa. / West Allegheny) got the start and gave up two earned runs in 3.1 innings of work in the no-decision. Pass struck out four and walked just one. 
 
Chase Perry (Ponte Vedra, Fla. / Nease) tossed 3.2 innings of relief and surrendered two runs on one hit. Perry struck out three. 
 
Alex Tomsic (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Blackhawk) suffered the loss, as he allowed two runs in two innings of work. Tomsic struck out two, walked one and gave up three hits. 
 
ON DECK: W&J hosts La Roche (Wednesday, Feb. 28) and Pitt-Greensburg (Thursday, Feb. 29) for a pair of mid-week non-conference games at Ross Memorial Park.