LATROBE, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team split a road twinbill against Saint Vincent College in Westmoreland County on Saturday afternoon. W&J secured a 1-0 victory in game one before falling 9-6 in the nightcap.
The splti moves W&J to 28-11 overall and 20-3 in PAC play. Saint Vincent sits at 20-18 overall and 12-11 in conference games.
Game One Recap – W&J 1, Saint Vincent 0
Ben Marsico (Bradford Woods, Pa./North Allegheny) tossed a two-hit shutout to improve his record to 9-1 this season. The junior struck out four and issued just one intentional walk during his 7.0 innings of work. Marisco retired the first 11 batters he faced in the game.
The W&J offense couldn't take advantage of a few opportunities, stranding
Spencer Howell (Oakwood, Ohio/Oakwood) after a leadoff double in the third.
W&J then loaded the bases in the fourth inning after singles by
Mullen Socha (Independence, Ohio/St. Ignatius),
Josh Crummer (Great Falls, Va./Flint Hill School) and
Adam Moore (Olean, N.Y./Archbishop Walsh). Saint Vincent escaped the inning by getting a foul out and a strikeout to end the threat.
Neither team put a runner on in the fifth or sixth innings as the game remained scoreless until the top of the seventh inning.
Moore led off the seventh with a double to center field to start the rally for W&J. Moore then moved to third when
Joey Bolick (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) reached on a fielder's choice sac bunt. On the play, Moore beat the throw and avoided the tag at third base. Moore scored on the next play when Howell brought him home with an RBI sacrifice bunt fielder's choice.
Marsico nailed down the victory with a scoreless seventh inning. Moore paced W&J with two hits in the opener.
Game Two Recap – Saint Vincent 9, W&J 6
W&J opened the second game with a pair of runs in the opening inning of game two. The Presidents scored first when
James Artale (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) brought home
Dante Dalesandro (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) with an RBI single. W&J added a second run on a throwing error by the Saint Vincent catcher on a stolen base attempt by Moore.
Saint Vincent claimed a 3-2 lead with two runs in the second and another score in the bottom of the fourth inning. Socha tied the score at 3-3 with a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning. The home run was the seventh of the season for Socha, who leads the team in home runs.
The host Bearcats took control of the game with three runs in the fifth and three more in the eighth to make the score 9-3.
In the top of the ninth inning, W&J made things interesting, recording three runs on four hits to cut the deficit in half at 9-6. Socha and Artale both registered RBI singles in the frame and Moore knocked home another on an RBI groundout.
Pinch hitter
Nick Guercio (Cabot, Pa./Knoch) drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch to bring the tying run to the plate for W&J. However, a lineout to right field ended the threat and the game.
Socha led W&J with a season-high four hits in game two, which included his solo home run. Dalesandro finished with three hits and two runs scored, while Artale and Howell tallied two hits each.
W&J wraps up the regular season with the series finale against Saint Vincent on Sunday, May 5. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Presidents will honor their 15 seniors prior to the nine-inning game.
