WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Washington & Jefferson used 27 hits to score 27 runs in sweeping the first-ever Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader against Chatham at Ross Memorial Park.
With the victories, the Presidents improve to 9-1 in the league, while increasing their overall record 17-9-1.
Game one began with three Chatham runs in the top of the first inning before the Presidents finally got on the board in the bottom of the third. With two runners on and nobody out,
Mullen Socha (Independence, Ohio/St. Ignatius) ripped his second home run of the season to tie the game, his second straight home game with a round tripper.
Ryan Sciullo (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area) singled two batters later and proceeded to steal second and third base before scoring on a wild pitch.
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Two more runs scored in the fourth inning before W&J opened up the game with a seven-run fifth. The fifth inning featured an RBI double from
Justin Griffin (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East), a run-scoring single off the bat of
Spencer Howell (Oakwood, Ohio/Oakwood) a one-run triple by
Luke Zahren (Ingomar, Pa./North Allegheny) and an RBI grounder from Sciullo.
Dante Dalesandro (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) also had an RBI in the inning as two other runs came in on three Cougar errors in the frame.
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Leading 13-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning,
AJ Melvin (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) was awarded home plate on a balk by the Chatham pitcher to end the game due to the 10-run mercy rule in the first game of conference doubleheaders.
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Bryce Schnatterly (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) earned his fifth win of the season after tossing 5.2 innings and allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits with two walks. Schnatterly, who is now 5-0 in seven starts this season, also tallied his 20th career win with his performance, the eighth pitcher in W&J history to have 20 or more wins.
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James Trainor (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) finished out the game for W&J, pitching the final 1.1 innings and allowing no runs with one hit and a walk.
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An RBI single from Sciullo put the Presidents on the board first in the bottom of the first in game two before the W&J bats came alive for five runs in the bottom of the second. After Griffin and Howell singled to lead off the inning,
Joey Bolick (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) singled to right to score Griffin, putting Howell on third base.
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After Bolick stole second, Howell scored and Bolick moved up to third on a wild pitch as the Presidents gained a 3-0 lead. Bolick then stole home on a straight steal to give W&J its fourth run of the game. Socha proceeded to reach on a dropped third strike and came around to score on a throwing error after stealing second base during
Dan Trettel's (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) at bat. The scoring for the inning concluded when Sciullo tripled to right center.
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Sciullo's triple was the 18th of his career, tying Josh Staniscia (2011-14) for the most triples in program history.
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Dalesandro doubled in the third to bring Griffin across home plate, who led the inning off with a walk. Zahren singled through the left side two batters later to bring Dalesandro in and give the Presidents an 8-0 lead.
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W&J extended its lead in game two to 11-0 in the bottom of the fifth with three runs on three hits, including an RBI double from Bolick and a sacrifice fly from Zahren.
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Matt Heslin (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) allowed the first Chatham run of the game in the seventh, but finished the inning before another run could cross the plate. He pitched 7.0 innings and allowed one earned run on six hits with no walks and two strikeouts to earn his first win of the season.
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An RBI triple from
Evan Hannan (Belle Vernon, Pa./Belle Vernon) brought
Evan Moerschbacher (Port Matilda, Pa./State College) in for the Presidents' 12th run of the game in the bottom of the seventh. After Chatham scored twice in the top of the eighth,
Ryan Willen (Pepper Pike, Ohio/Orange) powered his second home run of the season over the field fence to cap the scoring in the game.
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Mario Lombardi (Follansbee, W.Va./Brooke) was first out of the W&J bullpen in game two and threw 0.2 of an inning before
Nick Drake (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) finished the eighth inning in his first collegiate appearance.
Tucker Burg (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning, also his first career appearance, and needed just 10 pitches to finish the game.
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Socha, Sciullo and Dalesandro all had four hits over the two games and combined for nine runs scored, nine RBI and seven stolen bases. Sciullo finished game one with four stolen bases which was not only a career high but was his first career game with multiple stolen bases. In addition, it was the most stolen bases in a game by a single player since Justin Benson stole five in a game in 2008.
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In total, 12 different players had at least one hit between the two games for the W&J offense as the Presidents have scored double-digit runs nine times this season, including four straight games. W&J has also tallied 10 or more hits 15 times, including 10 of the last 11 games and four consecutive contests.
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The Presidents will continue play on Sunday, April 15, when they travel to face No. 14 Marietta for a 1:00 p.m. game.
Highlights:
Socha's second home run of the season tied game one, 3-3
Bolick races home for the stolen base, his second of the day
Willen's second career home run capped the scoring for the day
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