ANNVILLE, Pa. – Fourth-seeded Mitchell College couldn't overcome an early deficit against second-seeded Washington & Jefferson College on Saturday evening at the Annville (PA) Regional, falling by a 13-6 final at McGill Field in the 2022 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
The Presidents, coming off a loss to top-seeded Rowan University earlier in the day, scored four runs in the first inning and added five more in the second. J&W led by as many as 10 before Mitchell put runs on the scoreboard in the fourth, but the margin proved too large to overcome.
Lelo Martinez went 3-for-5 with an RBI to lead the Mitchell offense. Hunter Yaworski added a home run and a double in the game of his collegiate career, and Dougie DelaCruz finished with a pair of doubles.
W&J used four hits and a pair of walks to plate four runs in the first inning. The Presidents then padded the lead with two homers in the second, a three-run shot by Peter Kalinski that was followed by a two-run blast by Trevor Dean.
After falling behind 10-0, Mitchell finally got rolling in the fourth when Martinez led off with a double to deep center. Owen Robbins knocked in Martinez with a double of his own, and then later scored on a ground ball off the bat of John-John Jose.
Martinez supplied an RBI single in the fifth to trim the deficit to 10-7. However, the Presidents tacked on three runs in the sixth to bring the margin back to double digits.
H. Yaworski crushed a solo homer over the right field fence in the seventh, his third of the season and 12th of his career. He then had a hand in both of Mitchell's runs in the ninth, driving in the first with a double to right center before later scoring on a wild pitch.
W&J's Shane Fox tossed 6.0 innings to pick up the win, surrendering three runs on six hits while fanning three. Mitchell used six pitchers in the game, with starter Eddie Kaftan suffering the setback.
Mitchell finished the season with an overall record of 31-13. The Mariners have