WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Junior Tanner Gaerke (Plain City, Ohio/Jonathan Alder) went 8.0 innings and struck out seven as No. 4 Washington & Jefferson responded from a season-opening, extra-inning loss to Case Western Reserve with an 8-2 victory against the Spartans on Sunday (March 4).

The Presidents, ranked fourth in the Week One National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)/D3baseball.com Top 25 poll, move to 1-1, while the Spartans drop to 2-1. W&J will open Presidents' Athletic Conference action on Monday, March 5 with a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Bethany, where the Presidents will serve as the visitors for both games.

Gaerke faced one batter over the minimum through the first three innings before W&J plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to get on the board. Shortstop Spencer Howell (Oakwood, Ohio/Oakwood) led off the inning with a walk and went to third on a single by second baseman Luke Zahren (Ingomar, Pa./North Allegheny) before scoring on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Mullen Socha (Independence, Ohio/St. Ignatius). With two outs center fielder Ryan Sciullo (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area) laced his first of two triples on Sunday, driving in left fielder Dan Trettel (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), 2-0.

The Presidents added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to expand the margin to 4-0. Catcher Justin Griffin (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) doubled and went to third on an error to open the fourth inning before scoring on a wild pitch. A two-out RBI single by Howell in the fifth added the fourth run of the day.

W&J broke the game open with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. A pair of one-out walks to Socha and Trettel set the table for Sciullo's second triple of the day which scored both runners. Sciullo crossed the plate on a wild pitch two batters later, 7-0.

Case Western Reserve got on the board in the top of the seventh, but W&J answered with a run in the bottom of the eighth. Socha singled and stole both second and third before scoring on an RBI ground out by first baseman Mark Merlino (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford).

Gaerke worked the first 8.0 innings and gave up just six hits and struck out seven. He walked a batter and hit another, but got nine outs on the ground and seven in the air.

Sciullo's two triples were a career high and give him 17 for his career, one shy of tying Josh Staniscia (2011-14) for the W&J record. He finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored. Socha, Trettel and Griffin all scored twice, with Merlino walking three times and right fielder Dante Dalesandro (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) walked twice.