AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Washington & Jefferson baseball team defeated Elmhurst (Ill.), 13-0, in the opening game of the RussMatt Invitational before dropping the second game of the doubleheader to the Blue Jays, 7-3, on Monday afternoon, March 19.
 
The doubleheader split puts the Presidents' overall record at 5-1 while the Blue Jays sit at 3-6 overall.
 
In the first game, Mark Merlino (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) put the Presidents on the board in the top of the first when he launched a three-run home run over the left-center field fence, his second long ball of the season. W&J got three more runs in the second inning when Derek Helbing (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) walked with the bases loaded to drive in Jake Gordon (Hatfield, Pa./Pennridge). Two batters later, Frank Fortunato (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) singled down the right field line to plate two runners as the Presidents took a 6-0 lead.
 
After both teams went scoreless from in the third through fifth innings, the Presidents tacked on three more runs in the top of the sixth inning on an RBI ground out from Nick Vento (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) followed by an RBI double from Fortunato then a single to center from Merlino to put the Presidents on top, 9-0.
 
W&J scored four more runs in the seventh inning to close out the scoring in the first game.
 
In the second game, W&J scored a run in each of the first two innings thanks to an RBI single from Mullen Socha (Independence, Ohio/St. Ignatius) in the first and an RBI double from Nick Gatins (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) in the second.
 
Elmhurst then plated five runs, three in the third and two in the fourth, to take a 5-2 lead before Adam LaRue (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth.
 
The Blue Jays held the Presidents scoreless over the final four innings and tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the eighth to yield the final margin.
 
Merlino finished the day with two hits, including the home run in the first game, and drove in four runs. Fortunato also finished with two hits and drove in three runs and scored once. Helbing (2-for-2) and LaRue (1-for-1) were perfect at the plate in the first game while LaRue walked three times in five plate appearances in the second game.
 
Riley Groves (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) (2-0) earned the win on the mound for the Presidents in the first game. He completed six shutout innings and gave up five hits, one walk and punched out a career high nine hitters. Tanner Gaerke (Plain City, Ohio/Jonathan Alder) pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief. Joe Vita (Gibsonia, Pa./Hampton) (1-1) was the losing pitcher in the second game, lasting four innings and striking out two.
 
The Presidents will get back on the field on Monday, March 20, when they take on Wisconsin-Oshkosh at 11:30 a.m. on Field 7 at the Lake Myrtle complex in Auburndale, Fla.