WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Presidents used 17 hits from 14 different players in a 17-0 Presidents' Athletic Conference victory over Westminster.
Washington & Jefferson improves to 12-8 on the season, with a 6-3 mark in league games with the victory. W&J has now swept the season series against Westminster (2-21, 0-11) in six of the past seven seasons.
The 17 runs and hits are the most for the Presidents since putting up 17 runs and 18 hits in the final game of the PAC Tournament last season against Thomas More in which W&J secured its 10th league title.
The Presidents didn't get on the board until the third inning, when a pair of catcher's interference calls helped lead to four runs.
Michael Ruffing led off and reached on the first interference and
Adam LaRue followed by reaching on a bunt single. A
Derek Helbing sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, allowing the Titans to intentionally walk
Nick Vento. With two outs,
Ryan Sciullo walked with the bases loaded and
Mark Merlino reached via the second catcher's interference.
Dan Trettel capped the scoring with a two-run single to center field, 4-0.
W&J tacked on a run in the fifth on an RBI double by Trettel and another in the sixth on a fielder's choice by
Frank Fortunato to make the score 6-0.
The bottom of the seventh saw the Presidents bust the game open with eight runs after sending 13 players to the plate.
Zak Keesee started the scoring with a bases-loaded single that scored a run and Ruffing walked with the bases loaded, 8-0. Trettel scored on a wild pitch and
Nick Gatins drove a two-run triple to left center, 11-0.
Dante Dalesandro was hit by a pitch and then the next three batters,
Kevin Begley,
Anthony Paladino and
Josh Crummer walked.
Ryan Willen delivered a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring at 14-0.
W&J extended the lead in the bottom of the eighth when
Justin Zak,
Joe Palumbo and
Nick Morton all hit one-out singles and Begley hit a sacrifice fly, 15-0.
Nelson McKown followed an infield single by Paladino with an RBI single of his own, and Willen was hit by a pitch to earn the RBI and officially finish 0-0 with 2 runs batted in.
Keesee, LaRue and Trettel each posted two hits in the game, with Trettel's two base knocks and three RBI marking career bests. For the second straight game, Vento was walked three times, part of 10 free passes taken by the Presidents.
Trevor Kerr improved to 2-1 on the season, tossing 7.0 innings and giving up just three hits with four strikeouts and a walk in 101 pitches. No Titan even reached second base against the junior righty.
Riley Groves worked a scoreless eighth, allowing only a runner to reach on an error and then advance to second, Westminster's only trip to scoring position, on a wild pitch.
Bryce Schnatterly needed just eight pitches in a 1-2-3 top of the ninth that featured two ground outs and a called third strike.
W&J will step out of PAC play on Thursday, April 14, when it hosts Case Western Reserve for a doubleheader at Ross Memorial Park. First pitch in game one of the two nine-inning games twinbill is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
Highlights
Fortunato makes a bare-handed play to get the second out of the second inning
Trettel's two-run single in the third
Trettel hits an RBI double off the fence in left to put W&J up 5-0 after 5
Gatins' two-run triple in the seventh inning helped blow the game open
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