By Drew Karpen
2017 Mideast Regional website
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Senior
Nick Vento (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) belted a second-inning grand slam to break the Washington & Jefferson career RBI record as part of his seven RBI night, and the Presidents toppled Earlham, 15-6, to remain unbeaten in the 2017 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional on Friday night (May 19).
"Another good day for the Presidents," W&J head coach Jeff Mountain said. "A lot of fight out of the guys. That is how we have been from the beginning. It is always good when you get out to a good start."
The Presidents came up with clutch hit after clutch hit, scoring all 15 runs with two outs. Through two games in the tournament, W&J has outscored its opponents 27-13. With the win, W&J improved to 36-10, which is tied for most wins in a single season in school history.
The Presidents will play the winner of sixth-seeded Keystone and seventh-seeded DePauw on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. The game between those two teams was originally scheduled to cap Friday night's action, but was pushed to Saturday's first game at 10 a.m. due to weather issues.
"All 15 of our runs were scored with two outs, which is kind of amazing," Mountain said. "I've never seen that before. It is one of those nights. It happened right away with Nick Gatins' (North Royalton, Ohio/North Royalton) two-out hit [in the bottom of the first inning]. That allowed us to relax. We were never playing from behind tonight. It is big when you score the runs we have been able to score the first two games. I am happy with the position we are in, but there is more work to do."
Seven of the runs batted in with two outs for the Presidents came off the bat of senior Nick Vento (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional), including an opposite field grand slam in the second inning to push the Presidents ahead 6-2 at the time. Vento had a game to remember, going 4-for-6 with seven RBI and two runs scored.
Preceding his grand slam, Vento hit a double and scored one of the Presidents two runs in the top of the first. He also hit a two-run single in the sixth inning. All seven of his runs batted in came with the bases loaded.
Vento's 160 career RBI total now ranks first in program history. He entered the game tied for first with 153 with Jim Pasquine (2007-10).
"From the beginning of the game, I was just trying to slow the game down," Vento said. "I didn't have a great game yesterday and I was flexing at the plate. I made sure I slowed the game down and saw pitches and worked the count. Some hits I had I didn't square up, but that's baseball. I was seeing the ball well tonight."
W&J opened the scoring in the first inning on a two-run base hit by Gatins, who now has six RBI in the tournament.
Earlham (30-13) tied the game up with two runs in the bottom half of the first. The Quakers got on the board with an RBI groundout by Brennan Laird. Eric Elkus tied the game the very next batter on his second solo home run of the regional. It was the 26th of his career, breaking the all-time record at Earlham.
After the aforementioned grand slam by Vento, junior Mark Merlino (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) hit his seventh home run of the season, pushing W&J's lead to 7-2. Merlino finished the game 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Earlham got within one at 7-6 after a three run fifth inning as Nate Lynch provided the big blow with a two-run home run, making it 7-5. The home run was the second of the year for Lynch.
After an unearned run scored on a throwing error to make it 7-6, Mountain elected to go to his bullpen and bring in freshman Ben Marsico (Bradfordwoods, Pa./North Allegheny). Marsico gave the Presidents just what they needed, shutting down Earlham through the next four innings, allowing just two hits and striking out three.
In his first regional appearance, Marsico picked up his first career win (1-1).
"It was a huge contribution," Mountain said of Marsico's performance. "I thought he was the first guy on the mound that slowed the game down; he let it come to him. He threw multiple pitches for strikes. He is a freshman, but age doesn't matter at this point -- everyone has a full season under their belt. He has the makeup and demeanor for it."
Alongside Vento and Merlino, Adam LaRue (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) had another standout performance, collecting four hits for the second straight game. Derek Helbing (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) finished the game with four walks to give him 31 on the season, breaking Pasquine's mark of 30 in 2009 for the most in school history.
Earlham will play an elimination game against SUNY Cortland at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday.
