WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson baseball team swept Bethany, 12-1 in game one and 14-6 in game two, in its first doubleheader of the season on Wednesday, March 8, in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at Ross Memorial Park.
The Presidents improve to 4-0 overall on the season with a 2-0 PAC record while the Bison open their season 0-2 overall and in league play.
Bethany got on the board first in game one with a run in the top of the fourth before the Presidents quickly tied the game back up when
Nick Vento (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) doubled home
Adam LaRue (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) who reached on an error to lead off the inning.
After a scoreless top of the fifth, the Presidents' offense started clicking when
Derek Helbing (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) doubled home two runners and then scored thanks to a
Frank Fortunato (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) ground-rule double to center. The W&J lead ballooned to 6-1 when
Mark Merlino (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) drove in Fortunato after Helbing scored on a wild pitch.
Ryan Sciullo (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area) capped the six-run inning off with an RBI double to left, scoring Merlino.
The Presidents scored five more runs in the bottom of the sixth, starting with a solo home run to right field off the bat of
Nick Gatins (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton), to yield the final margin.
In the second game, the Presidents picked up where they left off by scoring five runs in the first inning and three runs in the second, highlighted by a three-run home run from Merlino followed immediately by an inside-the-park home run by Sciullo in the first and a three-run shot from Fortunato in the second, as W&J jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead.
After adding a run in the third, the Bison fought to get back in the game, scoring four runs on seven hits and an error in the top of the fourth inning.
Matt Heslin (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) came on in relief of
Bryce Schnatterly (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) and ended the inning with a bases loaded strikeout.
W&J got a run back in the bottom of the fifth to give it a 10-4 lead before Bethany came back with two more runs in the top of the sixth. However, in the bottom of the sixth, the Presidents scored four runs, three coming on a bases loaded triple to left-center field off the bat of
Dan Trettel (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), to seal the second win of the day.
Vento combined to go 5-for-9 at the plate in the two games with a double, three RBI and two runs scored. Fortunato collected two hits and drove in four runs while Merlino recorded three knocks and also drove home four runners. Sciullo added four hits and plated three runners and scored another.
Riley Groves (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) (1-0) earned the win in the first game as he threw six innings and surrendered the lone Bison run on just three hits, no walks and two strikeouts.
Ben Marsico (Bradfordwoods, Pa./North Allegheny) saw his first collegiate action as he pitched a perfect seventh inning with two strikeouts. Schnatterly (1-0) lasted 4.1 innings, gave up two earned runs and struck out two before being relieved by Heslin.
Santino Platt (Pittsburgh, Pa./OLSH) finished the game with a scoreless seventh inning.
The Presidents will return to the diamond on Sunday, March 12, when they host Point Park in a nonconference doubleheader with the first pitch of game one scheduled for 1:00 pm at Ross Memorial Park.
