CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. -- Third-seeded Washington & Jefferson pounded out 15 hits and scored runs in five different innings to advance to the Presidents' Athletic Conference championship round with an 11-2 win over top-seeded Thomas More.

The victory improves W&J to 26-15 on the season and 3-1 against the Saints within the last week. It advances W&J into Saturday's PAC title round for the fifth consecutive season and places the Presidents one win away from their third league title in the last four seasons and 11th overall. Thomas More drops to 27-10 and will play an elimination game at 4 p.m. this (Friday) afternoon. The victor of that game will have to defeat W&J twice on Saturday to secure the PAC championship and league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Saturday's action is set to begin at 12 p.m. and will be broadcast on the PAC Sports Network (pacstream.net). The "if-necessary" game should W&J lose the noon game, is slated to begin at 3 p.m.

Junior right-handed pitcher Trevor Kerr (6-1) earned the victory, his fifth in the last five decisions he's received. He worked the first 7.0 innings, allowing nine hits and a pair of earned runs, while striking out three and walking none. The only time he was touched up for runs came in the top of the sixth when TMC's Donovan Pogue belted a two-run homer to left center, the first long ball allowed this season by Kerr.

Joe Vita and Matt Heslin both worked scoreless innings of relief, with Vita only needing a handful of pitches to retire the three batters he faced and Heslin surrendering one hit and coaxing a pair of ground outs.

After a 1-2-3 top of the first, W&J loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the frame. Adam LaRue was hit by a pitch and Derek Helbing walked before Nick Vento reached on an infield single. LaRue came in to score when Frank Fortunato hit into a double play and Thomas More escaped the frame by allowing just one run, 1-0.

In the second, Kerr was able to get a double play ball to end a two-on threat and W&J tacked on four runs in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Dan Trettel singled and Nick Morton was hit by a pitch. Michael Ruffing reached on a fielder's choice to first base where Morton was thrown out at second, but the return throw from the shortstop sailed past the first baseman and allowed Trettel to score, 2-0. LaRue walked and then Helbing, Vento and Fortunato delivered back-to-back-to-back RBI singles up the middle as W&J opened up a 5-0 lead.

The Presidents were kept off the scoreboard in the third inning, but struck for a pair in the bottom of the fourth. Ruffing led off with a single and went to second on LaRue's team-leading eighth sacrifice bunt of the year. Ruffing moved up to third base on Helbing's fly out to right field and scored on a wild pitch during Vento's at-bat. Vento then launched his team-leading eighth homer of the season, and fourth in four games against the Saints this year, to center field, 7-0.

W&J answered Pogue's two-run homer in the top of the sixth with three runs in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Fortunato doubled down the left-field line and Sciullo walked. Mark Merlino singled to right to score both runners and ended up on second base after the throw home was late attempting to get Sciullo at the plate. Trettel brought Merlino in with an RBI base knock to left, 10-2.

The third seed tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Fortunato, which followed LaRue's second hit by pitch of the game and Vento's fourth hit of the game, which tied his career high, 11-2.

Four Presidents recorded multi-hit efforts, led by Vento who finished 4-for-5 with a homer, two RBI and a run scored. Fortunato went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and run, while Trettel was 3-for-5 with an RBI and run. Merlino, who saw his eight-game hitting streak snapped in yesterday's win, went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run.