WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson baseball team slugged four home runs on its way to a doubleheader sweep of Westminster, 12-0 in the first game and 5-1 in the second, on Tuesday, March 28, in Presidents' Athletic Conference action.
 
The wins boosted the Presidents' overall record to 9-3 with a 4-0 record in PAC play while Westminster fell to 4-12 overall and 1-4 in conference.
 
After scoring a run on one hit in the second inning of the first game, the Presidents added three more runs in the third on a Nick Vento (Murrysville, Pa. / Franklin Regional) bases loaded sacrifice fly followed by a two-run single over the head of the third baseman from Ryan Sciullo (Vandergrift, Pa. / Kiski Area).
 
The Presidents added two more runs in each of the fourth and the fifth innings to take an 8-0 lead. The runs came via the long ball as Derek Helbing (Pataskala, Ohio / Watkins Memorial) crushed a two-run home run to left-center field, the first of his career, in the fourth followed by a two-run shot from Nick Gatins (North Royalton, Ohio / North Royalton) in the fifth.
 
A four-run Presidents sixth inning closed out the scoring for the game. Helbing added his third RBI of the game with a ground-rule double to left center to drive in Kevin Begley (Allison Park, Pa. / Deer Lakes), who entered as a pinch hitter and was hit by a pitch. Vento followed with his second sac fly of the game, plating Adam LaRue (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny) who reached on an infield single, before Frank Fortunato (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) added a two-run home run of his own.
 
In the second game, neither team was able to scratch a run across the plate until the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Dan Trettel (Wexford, Pa. / North Allegheny) was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a single from LaRue two batters later. Helbing followed with an RBI single through the left side before Vento lined a ball over the right-center field fence for a three-run home run. The long ball was the first of the season for the W&J right fielder and the 18th of his career, moving him into a tie for third in program history with Neil Pascarella and Todd Henry.
 
The Titans were able to get on the board with one run on one hit and two errors in the top of the sixth, but the Presidents got the run back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI ground out from Vento with runners on the corners.
 
Helbing led the offense on the day, totaling five hits in eight at-bats over the two games with a double, a home run, four RBI and four runs scored. Vento drove in a team-high six runs between the two games, finishing 2-for-6 at the plate, and added a double to go along with his home run in game two.
 
LaRue knocked two hits and scored four times while Sciullo went 2-for-3 in both games and combined for one run and two RBI.
 
Trevor Kerr (Orrville, Ohio / Orrville) (1-1) picked up the win on the mound in game one, pitching six innings and allowing no runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Will Bowser (Burgettstown, Pa. / Madonna (W.Va.)) relieved Kerr with a perfect seventh inning, striking out two hitters. Matt Heslin (McDonald, Pa. / Fort Cherry) (1-0) earned the win in the second game, pitching five innings with no runs, no walks, two strikeouts and allowing just one hit (the first batter of the game). Heslin also induced three ground ball double plays in the game. Joe Vita (Gibsonia, Pa. / Hampton) and Tim Mulvey (Glenshaw, Pa. / OLSH) each pitched an inning of relief to close it out, combining to give up one run on two hits.
 
The Presidents will return to action on Friday, March 31, when they host PAC foe Waynesburg in a 4:30 p.m. contest.