By Alex Benner, Sports Information Assistant

WASHINGTON, Pa. – The No. 19 Washington & Jefferson baseball team clinched the number one spot in the upcoming Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament with a 17-0 win over Saint Vincent on Sunday, April 20. 
 
The Presidents will host the PAC tournament at Ross Memorial Park on Thursday-Saturday, May 11-13. It will be the first time W&J has hosted the league's championship event since 2014.
 
The win pushes the Presidents to 26-7 on the season with a 19-2 conference record, and extends their streak of shut-out games to four.
 
Bryce Schnatterly (Cranberry Township, Pa. / Seneca Valley) earned his sixth win of the season with the start on the mound, striking out four and allowing only one hit in his three innings of work.  Santino Platt (Pittsburgh, Pa. / OLSH), Ben Marsico (Bradfordwoods, Pa. / North Allegheny), and Will Bowser (Burgettstown, Pa. / Madonna (W.Va.)) did not allow a hit in their appearances in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, respectively.  As a unit, the seven different pitchers used by the Presidents allowed only five hits in the game and struck out eight batters.
 
The strong pitching was aided by the 17-run showing from the offense. The scoring started in the second inning, when Kevin Begley (Allison Park, Pa. / Deer Lakes) drove in a run with a double to left center that brought Nick Gatins (North Royalton, Ohio / North Royalton) around to score. Begley later scored on an RBI ground-out by Adam LaRue (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny).
 
The Presidents piled on six more runs in the next two innings, highlighted by a pair of base hits and four RBI by Ryan Sciullo (Vandergrift, Pa. / Kiski Area).  Then, in the bottom of the sixth, they created a large margin for themselves off a two RBI single for Mark Merlino (Irwin, Pa. / Penn-Trafford) and a grand slam from James Artale (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Kenston), putting the score at 14-0. In the seventh, the Presidents were able to add three more runs with a two RBI book-rule double by Jake Gordon (Hatfield, Pa. / Pennridge) and a sacrifice fly from Josh Crummer (Great Falls, Va. / Flint Hill School) to give the game its final score of 17-0.
 
Top hitters on the day included Nick Vento (Murrysville, Pa. / Franklin Regional), Mark Merlino (Irwin, Pa. / Penn-Trafford), Frank Fortunato (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan), and Sciullo, all with two hits apiece and Vento, Fortunato, and Merlino all added two runs to the scoresheet as well.  Artale tallied four RBI with his grand slam, and Merlino added three more.  In total, the Presidents had 15 hits on the day by 11 different players.
 
W&J is back in action this Tuesday, May 2 with a home nonconference doubleheader versus No. 23 Mount Union, starting at 3pm.