WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson baseball team extended its program-record win streak to 16 consecutive games with a doubleheader sweep of Bethany on Saturday, April 13, at Ross Memorial Park. 

With the two wins, the Presidents improve to 19-7 overall and remain perfect in conference at 14-0. Bethany, on the other hand, fall to 17-11 overall and 7-8 in the PAC. W&J's 16 game win streak stands as one of the longest active streaks in all of Division III, trailing No. 1-ranked Concordia Chicago's 21-game run. 

Game One
In game one, the Presidents were guided by an outstanding pitching performance from Ben Marsico (Bradford Woods, Pa./North Allegheny), who tossed 7.0 innings of scoreless ball with a career-high seven strikeouts. 

The Red & Black opened the bout's scoring in the third inning plating two to take a 2-0 lead. Dante Dalesandro (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) drove the first run home, plating Joey Bolick (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) from second with a single. Dalesandro then crossed home plate on an error on the opposing shortstop. 

W&J added to its advantage in the fourth with four runs in the frame. Dalesandro continued his outstanding opener, plating three with a bases-clearing double. Dalesandro got home the next at-bat on a Mullen Socha (Independence, Ohio/St. Ignatius) RBI single. 

Leading 6-0, the Presidents capped off their stellar win with a home run from Justin Griffin (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) in the sixth. Griffin's homer is his third in 2019, which is a career high and it ranks second on the team. 

Dalesandro, Bolick and Josh Crummer (Great Falls, Va./Flint Hill School) all finished tied for the team lead with two hits in the opener. Dalesandro's four RBI led all players, and it matched a season-high for the senior. 

Game Two
The second game of today's twin bill came down to the wire, as a Socha solo homer in the seventh swung the contest in W&J's favor. 

Howell kicked off the game's scoring in the third with an RBI double to left that plated Dalesandro. Griffin put the Red & Black up 2-0 with a sac fly to left field that drove Socha home. 

After both teams scored one in the fourth inning, Bethany knotted the score at 3-3 in the fifth. The first of the two runs came on a double to left center and the second was on a W&J error. 

With the score deadlocked, Socha took things into his own hands by mashing a homer to put the Presidents ahead 4-3. Socha paces the Red & Black this year with four long balls. 

In a tight affair, relievers Mitchell Taufer (Washington, Pa./Bishop Canevin) and Clay Martin (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) both pitched 2.0 innings without allowing a run. Taufer got the win and did not allow a hit, while striking out three batters. Martin picked up his conference-best fifth save by tossing scoreless eighth and ninth innings. 

Garrett Harstine (New Philadelphia, Ohio/New Philadelphia) started the game for the Presidents and went 5.0 innings. The senior allowed three runs, two earned, and struck out three Bison. 

Socha went a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate with two runs and two RBI. Howell tallied two hits with one RBI. Dalesandro and Peter Kalinski (Washington, D.C./St. John's College) both finished with one hit and one run scored. 

W&J will conclude its regular-season series against Bethany tomorrow afternoon. The series finale is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the Bison's Bethany Park.