GREENVILLE, Pa. -- W&J dropped both ends of a doubleheader, and subsequently the season series, at Thiel with 4-3 and 4-1 losses.
The Presidents fall to 10-5 on the season and now hold a 2-2 mark in the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Thiel improves to 16-4 overall and 6-2 in the PAC.
In the opener, Washington & Jefferson held a 3-2 lead through five-and-a-half innings, but a two-run homer by the Tomcats in the bottom of the sixth sent the hosts to the victory.
Anthony Paladino finished 3-for-3 in the first game, while
Nick Vento was 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and run.
Kyle Smith and
Gannon Rooney each added doubles.
Jared Baird took the loss to fall to 1-2 on the season, allowing nine hits and striking out four.
Joe Vita lowered his ERA to 0.39 on the season with a scoreless inning of relief, striking out one.
Vento recorded an RBI single in the third inning to give W&J a 1-0 lead, part of his 2-for-3 showing in the nightcap, running his hitting streak to 12-straight games in the process, one shy of his career long.
Thiel scored four unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth to record the win.
Riley Groves took his first loss of the season, to fall to 4-1, despite not surrendering an earned run. He gave up just four hits in 6.0 innings of work.
W&J heads back to Mercer County on Thursday, April 2 for a 2 p.m. nine-inning game at Westminster in a contest previously scheduled for Friday, April 3, but moved up a day due to forecasted inclement weather.
