WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson baseball team overcame wintry conditions to deal No. 22 Marietta a 7-0 loss at Ross Memorial Park.
The win is the third-straight over the Pioneers for the Presidents in the regular season and marks just the fourth win over the Etta Express in 23 tries for W&J all-time. The Presidents improve to 10-3 on the season, while the Pioneers fall to 10-6.
Joe Vita dropped his ERA on the season to 0.41, working the first 8.0 innings and yielding just three hits while striking out five in exactly 100 pitches. It marks the second combined shut out the sophomore righty has been a part of this year as he moves to 2-0.
Tim Mulvey worked a perfect top of the ninth, striking out two of the three batters he faced.
W&J got on the board in the bottom of the second inning when
Ryan Sciullo tripled to right center with two outs and scored on a single up the middle by
Nick Morton.
The Presidents added a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on a two-run homer to right by
Nick Vento, his first of the season and sixth in his 50th career game.
The game was broken open in the bottom of the sixth when W&J plated three runs. A single to center by Sciullo loaded the bases with one out and
Kyle Smith scored on an RBI ground out by Morton. That was followed by a two-run single up the middle by
Derek Helbing, 6-0. The Presidents added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by
Adam LaRue.
Sciullo and Helbing each finished 2-for-4, with Helbing driving in a pair of runs and Sciullo scoring twice. Morton and Vento each drove in two, with Vento extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
W&J will play seven of its next nine games on the road and begins a streak of 19 consecutive Presidents' Athletic Conference contests, beginning with a doubleheader at Thiel on Tuesday, March 31 at 1 p.m.
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