NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team played to a split of a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader with host Westminster College Wednesday afternoon in New Wilmington.

The Titans broke open a tie game with a five-spot in the fifth inning before adding three additional runs in the sixth inning to take an 11-2 win in game one. The Presidents salvaged the split with an 5-3 victory in an extra inning affair in game two.

The split moves W&J to 13-3 in the PAC and 23-11 overall. W&J remains in a deadlock with Grove City (13-3 PAC) for first place in the PAC standings. Westminster is now 10-6 in the league and 17-16 overall. 

Game 1 - Westminster 11, W&J 2

The host Titans got off to a quick start, as they opened the bottom of the first inning with two quick runs to jump on the Presidents early as they would hold that 2-0 lead.

In the top of the fifth, W&J designated hitter Nolan Lutz (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) continued his fine season, as his two-run double drove in Connor Helm (Murrysville, Pa. / Franklin Regional) and Sam Schuster (Fairport Harbor, Ohio / Fairport Harding) to even the score at two all.

Westminster took control with five runs in the fifth before adding three more in the sixth to cruise the win.

Despite the loss, Lutz continued his strong work at the plate. The junior accounted for three of the Presidents 11 hits in game one. Helm and Logan Scheider (McDonald, Pa. / West Allegheny) had two hits apiece.

Nate Nolan (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) started and suffered the loss for W&J. His record is 4-2 in 2023. Nolan surrendered five runs on five hits in 4.1 innings. 

Game 2 - W&J 5, Westminster 3 (10 innings)

Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa. / Penn-Trafford) singled and stole third base before eventually scoring on a RBI groundout by Dan Beistel (Canfield, Ohio / Canfield) that gave W&J an early 1-0 lead. 

W&J would remain in the lead until Westminster scored twice in the bottom of the fifth inning. 

The Presidents, similar to game one, would tie things up at two off of the bat of Lutz. His RBI single up the middle scored Horvat to draw the score even. The Titans quickly regained the lead on a RBI double to center field to take a 3-2 edge into the seventh. 

W&J was able to quickly even the score, as Trevor Dean (San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo) connected on a solo home run to knot the score at 3-3. 

Both units would create chances to take the lead over the final two innings but to no avail as the matchup headed to extra-innings.

A one-out double by Dante DiMatteo (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) put the Presidents in business in the top of the 10th inning. Two batters later, Beistel provided the dramatics that put W&J ahead for good. A two-run, two-out home run by Beistel allowed W&J to regain the lead at 5-3.

DiMatteo logged the final inning in the bottom of the 10th to finish off the victory. He finished with three strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work. Horvat took the no-decision as he struck out 10 Titans in 6.0 innings of work. 

Lutz paced the Presidents offense again with three additional hits. The reigning PAC Hitter of the Week finished with six total hits on the day. Horvat added two hits to his totals followed by DiMatteo, Beistel, Dean, and Knox Meier (Tampa, Fla. / Berkeley Prep) had a hit each. 

On Deck: W&J heads to Thiel College on Saturday, April 29 for a conference doubleheader in Greenville. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m.