ANNVILLE, Pa. – Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) finished with two hits, scored a pair of runs and tossed six strong innings of relief to guide No. 24 Washington & Jefferson to a 5-1 win over Lebanon Valley College to open NCAA Division III Regional play Friday.
The win advances W&J (36-8 overall) to face against No. 10 Rowan at 12 p.m. on Saturday at McGill Field in Annville, Pa. Rowan improved to 31-8 overall with a 7-1 win over Mitchell earlier in the day on Friday.
Lebanon Valley and Mitchell open the action Saturday with an elimination game at 8:30 a.m.
The W&J and LVC game spanned more than five hours in length after a two-plus hour weather delay. All five runs W&J scored came with two outs.
After W&J starter Henry Litman (Marietta, Ga./Walton) retired the side in the top of the first inning, W&J struck first with a run in the bottom of the frame off LVC starter Kyle Kingsbury. Horvat produced a leadoff single and eventually scored on a two-out RBI single by Evan Sante (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum).
The Dutchmen threatened after a leadoff double in the top of the second. However, Litman retired the next three hitters in order to keep LVC off the board. Litman punched out a pair of Dutchmen to escape, which including getting Luke Blair looking to end the threat.
After a rain delay of more than two hours, a wild pitch by LVC reliever Tommy Moore Jr. scored Horvat to give W&J a 2-0 lead after three innings of play.
LVC got a run back in the top of the fifth inning when Ryan Murphy produced a RBI single to cut the Dutchmen's deficit to 2-1. Horvat was able to strand a pair of Dutchmen on base to escape further damage.
W&J had a chance to add an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Roman Samson (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep) led off with a single and advanced to second base on a sac bunt by Trevor Dean (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo). With Samson advancing to third base on a flyout, it sent the stage for him to score on a balk that scored Samson to give W&J a 3-1 lead.
Samson produced again in the eighth inning. W&J loaded the bases after two outs and Samson delivered a two-run two-out single down the left field line to score Nate Rush (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School) and Peter Kalinski (Washington, D.C. / Saint John's College). The clutch hit by Samson allowed W&J to carry a 5-1 lead into the ninth.
Making his first appearance in relief in 2022, Horvat tossed six innings to earn the victory. He is 8-1 on the mound this season. Horvat did not allow a hit over the final four innings.
Horvat and Samson finished with two hits apiece to pace W&J offensively.