CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. -- Junior Riley Groves tossed a one-hit shutout as the Washington & Jefferson baseball team made a four-run fourth inning hold up to advance in the opening round of the 2016 Presidents' Athletic Conference Baseball Championship.

Groves' sterling performance featured 9.0 innings and one hit, a lead-off single to begin the seventh inning, three walks and no strikeouts. He got 14 outs in the air and 12 outs on the ground, with the only remaining out coming when catcher Derek Helbing picked a runner off of first base in the seventh. The performance was the first shutout in a PAC Tournament game since 2012, and the first for a President in the tournament since May 12, 2007 when Ron Mitko '07 tossed a two-hit shutout in the title game against Thiel, a 6-0 W&J win. It was the second time that tournament the Presidents shutout the Tomcats by a 6-0 margin, as the day before Sam Mann '07 scattered five hits in not allowing a run to Thiel. Since the PAC Tournament went to four teams in 2003, it has featured four shutouts, with three of those W&J defeating Thiel. The fourth was by Westminster in the 2012 championship game.

Groves (8-2) retired the first 13 men he faced before issuing a free pass to second baseman Josh Doody with one out in the fifth inning. He forced the next two batters to fly and ground out, respectively. The sixth inning was like déjà vu, as Groves got the lead-off man to ground out, walked the second batter and got the next two men to fly and ground out.

The only time Groves was in any semblance of trouble, and Thiel's lone runner to reach second base, came in the top of the seventh. First baseman Trent Smith singled to left field to lead off and break up the no-hit bid for Groves. Designated hitter Trent Mosley walked to put two on with no outs, but Doody popped out and Mosley was picked off when Helbing threw behind him which allowed first baseman Mark Merlino to apply the tag. Groves retired the final seven batters he faced to seal the win.

Offensively, W&J did all of its damage in the top of the fourth inning. Left fielder Frank Fortunato walked to lead off and center fielder Ryan Sciullo then belted a two-run homer to left field to give the Presidents a 2-0 lead. With one out, designated hitter Dan Trettel doubled down the left-field line and came in to score on shortstop Michael Ruffing's two-out RBI single. A walk to second baseman Adam LaRue put two on, and Helbing and right fielder Nick Vento reached on back-to-back errors by the second baseman, allowing Ruffing to tack on the eventual final run of the game, 4-0.

Sciullo led the charge at the plate, finishing with his ninth multi-hit game of the season in going 3-for-4 with a home run, double, two RBI and a run.

The third-seeded Presidents improve to 25-15 on the year and will be back in action on Friday, May 13 against top-seeded Thomas More at 10 a.m. in a battle between Thursday's two winners. The Saints dispatched fourth-seeded Grove City, 7-6, with a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth. The winner of tomorrow's W&J vs. Thomas More game will advance to Saturday's championship round, while the loser will play an elimination game at 4 p.m. versus the winner of Thiel vs. Grove City, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Friday.