GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader Monday afternoon to Grove City in Presidents' Athletic Conference action.

In a doubleheader that was originally scheduled for April 3, it was the Wolverines who took game one by a 13-1 margin. Grove City then escaped with a 4-3 victory in game two for the sweep. 

The losses by W&J and the sweep for Grove City tighten up the conference standings. The Presidents are now 15-3 in PAC play while the Wolverines improve to 13-5 in league play. Allegheny, W&J's opponent on Saturday, sits at 13-5 as well. Waynesburg, who has completed conference play, holds a 15-5 record. 

Monday's doubleheader marks the first time that W&J was swept in a league doubleheader since April 15, 2017 when they dropped both ends of a twinbill at Thomas More. 

Game One - Grove City 13, W&J 1 (8 Innings)

The Wolverines opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first. Grove City added three runs in the third inning when they collected five-straight hits to start the inning. 

Nolan Lutz (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) produced the only run of game one for the Presidents. A solo no-doubt home run cut the deficit to 5-1 in the top of the fourth inning. The home run was the fourth of the season for Lutz. 

W&J had a chance to trim the deficit in the sixth inning but failed to score after loading the bases with one out.

Grove City plated another run with back-to-back two-out hits in the sixth to move the lead to 7-1. 

The Wolverines ended the game early by scoring seven more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. A three-run home run by Nick Sampson walked off the game. 

W&J, who came in hitting .344 as a team, managed just five hits in the opener.

Anthony Pass (Clinton, Pa./West Allegheny) suffered the loss. Pass worked seven innings and surrendered five earned runs. 


Game Two - Grove City 4, W&J 3 

The Presidents' comeback attempt fell short in game two.

Grove City scored three runs in the third and added another in the fourth to build a 4-0 lead. Trey Wagner provided the big hit of the game. His three-run double came with two outs in the third. 

W&J put a runner into scoring position in the third, fourth, fifth and eighth innings but came away empty each time. 

The Presidents made things interesting in the ninth when they loaded the bases with one out.

Brian Feldman (Gibsonia, Pa./Eden Christian Academy) and Joe Lehner (Painesville, Ohio/Lake Catholic) both pinch hit and drew back-to-back pinch hit walks to open the ninth. After a groundout for the first out, Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y./Canisius) drew a walk to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. Drew Garth (Glenshaw, Pa./North Hills) smacked a two-run double off the left center field fence, missing a potential game-tying grand slam by mere inches.

Lutz brought in LaDuca with an RBI groundout to trim the deficit to 4-3. However, the Wolverines escaped the threat and preserved the victory with a ground out for the third out. 

Zac Stern (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) and Lutz finished with two hits apiece. 

Thomas McLaren (Mars, Pa./Mars Area) started and suffered the loss after allowing three runs on 2.2 innings. Justin Giarrusso (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) put together a strong effort in relief, allowing one run over 3.1 innings out of the bullpen. Nate Nolan (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) tossed a pair of scoreless no-hit frames to finish up. 

On Deck: W&J welcomes Otterbein University from the Ohio Athletic Conference for a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, May 1. Start time is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.