WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Hits and runs were at a premium as the Washington & Jefferson College baseball team fell in a pair of low-scoring seven inning games against Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the Presidents' first two games in Florida.
 
WPI won game one 2-0 and took game two 3-1 at Chain of Lakes Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
 
Game One - WPI 2, W&J 0
 
The Engineers won despite a one-hit outing by Presidents starting pitcher Ben Marsico (Bradford Woods, Pa. / North Allegheny). WPI used two errors, a walk and a hit in their first three batters to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Following WPI's early flurry, Marsico sat down the next three batters for WPI. He proceeded to retire the Engineers in order in each of the next five innings for a total of 18-consecutive outs.
 
The President bats were held under control by WPI's Nick Colucci who tossed a two-hitter of his own. Michael Zito (Nashville, Tenn. / Hume-Fogg) singled in the third and fifth for W&J's only two hits of the contest.
 
The Red and Black's best scoring opportunity came in the fifth inning as the Presidents used a pair of walks and a Zito base knock to load the bases with two outs, but Nate Rush (Wheeling, W.Va. / The Linsly School) grounded out to end the top half of the inning.
 
Game Two - WPI 3, W&J 1
 
WPI jumped out to an early lead in second game between the Engineers and Presidents with runs in the first and second innings. A steal with runners on first and third turned into a run in the first and WPI's Ben Seeto had an RBI single in the second to put RPI ahead 2-0.
 
Jansen Eichenlaub (Export, Pa. / Franklin Regional) started on the mound for the Presidents, recording six strikeouts over 4.2 innings pitched. He escaped a first and third situation with two outs in the fourth by catching the runner on first in a rundown to end the inning.
 
W&J recorded its first hit in the fourth inning as Nick Guercio (Cabot, Pa. / Knoch) singled through the left side.
 
Zito tossed the final 2.2 innings, allowing one unearned run and recording three strikeouts.

Trailing 2-0, the Presidents showed signs of life as Rush laced a single to right field and Joey Bolick (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine-Richland) plated him with a one-out triple over the right fielder's head. Bolick was stranded as the Presidents' were unable to plate the tying run.
 
WPI added another unearned run on a throwing error in the top of the seventh. The Presidents placed a pair of runners on base with two out in the bottom of the inning as Zito walked and Adam Jaworski (Canonsburg, Pa. / Peters Township) singled to bring the go-ahead run to the plate, but a groundout to shortstop ended the contest.
 
The Presidents take on St. Scholastica in a nine-inning contest at Lake Myrtle's main park at 1:00 p.m.