WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson college baseball team executed a doubleheader sweep of the visiting Grove City Wolverines in PAC play Wednesday afternoon at Ross Memorial Park. The wins extend the Presidents' winning streak to nine games. W&J remains unbeaten in Presidents' Athletic Conference games, improving to 8-0 in the league. The Presidents move to 16-4 overall in 2025.
 
Game One – W&J 4, Grove City 3
 
Zac Stern (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) led the Presidents offensively in game one going 2-for-4 at the plate with three stolen bases and two runs.
 
W&J was the first to find the scoreboard but not before three scoreless innings went by. The Presidents put up a lone run in four straight frames starting in the fourth inning.
 
Starting pitcher Erik Streussnig (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) pitched five scoreless innings, retiring the Wolverines in three-up, three-down fashion in the ladder four innings of his outing.
 
In the top of the fourth, Stern lined a single to right field before taking the next base on the first pitch strike of the next at bat. Due to a throwing error by the Wolverines catcher, Stern was able to advance to third on the same play as the ball sped past second base and into centerfield. Stern flashed his speed once more with a straight steal of home that he slid into safely for the first run of the ballgame.
 
W&J added another run in the top of the next frame. Josh Dezenzo (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) insured the run by blasting a homer over the left field fence for the only score of the inning, 2-0.
 
Stern singled to right center in the top of the sixth to put a runner on for the Presidents. A steal and fly out moved Stern around to third base with two outs. A lightning delay created some suspense as both teams had to wait a little over an hour to resume play with Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio/Wellington School) due up for W&J upon return.
 
An RBI double to right center field from Zaas swelled the Presidents lead to 3-0 before the Wolverines escaped the top of the sixth.
 
W&J scored there last run of the bout in the top of the seventh on another solo homerun this time cranked by Brendan Cruz (Carnegie, Pa./Chartiers Valley) over the left field fence, 4-0.
 
Grove City fought back in the bottom of the frame, scoring three runs on three hits and an error before W&J could halt the Wolverine rally, 4-3. Despite the Presidents putting on two runners in the top of the next inning, neither team would find the scoring column in the final two innings as W&J claimed the 4-3 victory in game one of the twin bill.
 
Streussnig recorded the win on the mound for the Red & Black after putting in five innings of work, fanning three batters and allowing one hit and no runs. Cruz put in three innings of relief with one strikeout and Dante DiMatteo (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) logged his first save of the season to close out the win.
 
Game Two – W&J 13, Grove City 7
 
Cruz and Stern led the offense in game two. Cruz went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Stern was 3-for-5 at the plate and with two runs and three RBIs. Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y./Canisius), Drew Garth (Glenshaw, Pa./North Hills), Knox Meier (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep), Teddy Platt (Venetia, Pa. Peters Township) and Dezenzo also all had multi-hit efforts in game two.
 
W&J jumped out scoring early and often in game two. The Presidents put up four runs on four hits in the first inning.
 
A single to right center by LaDuca got things rolling for the Red & Black. Garth followed suit with a double to left center that left two runners in scoring position. Stern took advantage of the two ducks on the pond and pushed them both in with a single up the middle.
 
With some heads up baserunning, Meier advanced to second and Stern scored in the next play on a ground out to the Wolverines shortstop, 3-0. Cruz drove in the final run of the inning for the Red & Black on a single through to left side that plated Meier, 4-0.
 
W&J produced more runs offensively in the top of the second, adding two more runs. Platt drew a leadoff walk before advancing the second on another wild pitch from the Grove City pitcher. LaDuca then took first after being tagged by a pitch. Garth pushed in Platt and moved LaDuca to third on a single to left field, 5-0. Stern drove in LaDuca on a fielder's choice to swell the lead to 6-0 before the Wolverines ended the inning.
 
W&J tacked on another run in the third, fourth and fifth innings. An RBI groundout by Brody Bartenstein (Corning, N.Y./Corning-Painted Post) scored Dezenzo in the top of the third, 7-0.
 
Singles by Stern and Meier in the top of the fourth put runners on for W&J before a fly out by Zaas advanced Stern to third and a sacrifice fly by Dezenzo scored Stern, 8-0.
 
Grove City found the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame and strung together five runs on four hits and an error, dwindling the Presidents lead to 8-5.
 
Platt singled to start the top of the fifth and proceeded to third in the same manner as Stern in game one on a steal and a throwing error by the Wolverines catcher. An RBI groundout by LaDuca pushed Platt across the plate, 9-5. The Wolverines also tacked on another run in the bottom of the frame on two hits, 9-6.
 
W&J struck next in the top of the seventh as a double to left center by Meier pushed Garth from first to home after reaching on a hit by pitch, 10-6.
 
Bartenstein swelled the Presidents lead to 13-6 in the top of the eighth on a three-run homerun over the left field fence, the first of his collegiate career.
 
Grove City put up a final run in the bottom of the ninth but W&J came away with a 13-7 victory in game two to complete the regular season sweep of Grove City.
 
Justin Giarrusso (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) pitched the first 4.0 innings giving up four hits and five runs while striking out three. Jake Stiehl (Reston, Va./South Lakes) took to the bump next, pitching 1.2 innings. Stiehl allowed one run on two hits and picked up the win for the Red and Black. Ben Pierce (Bel Air, Md./John Carroll) threw 2.1 innings in relief, only allowing one hit from the Wolverines. Nate Nolan (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) closed out the game pitching the last 1.0 inning allowing one run on two hits.
 
Up Next: W&J is scheduled to host Westminster on Friday (April 4). First pitch of the conference doubleheader is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.