DALLAS, PA. – The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team finished with 14 hits but suffered a 10-7 setback to host Misericordia University in the opening round of play at the NCAA Division III Regionals Friday in Dallas, Pa.
 
The loss puts W&J at 31-13 overall in 2023. The Presidents face Keystone in an NCAA Tournament elimination game on Saturday, May 20 at 8:30 a.m. at Tambur Field. The Cougars (34-12) advance to play Salve Regina in the winner's bracket final Saturday at 12 p.m. The winner of the elimination game will face the loser of the winner's bracket final on 3:30 p.m. Saturday. 
 
W&J worked out of trouble in the bottom of the first inning. A leadoff walk and a two-out error gave the Cougars a pair of runners in scoring position with two outs. However, Horvat worked out of trouble when he induced a groundout to Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y./Canisius), who ranged to his left to make a play up the middle. 
 
The Presidents struck first for three runs on three hits in top of the second inning. Evan Sante (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) started things with a leadoff single and Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio/Wellington) followed with a four-pitch walk. LaDuca pushed both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. 
 
Josh Dezenzo (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) followed with an RBI single back up the box to plate Sante for the game's first run. A batter later a wild pitch score Zaas to make it 2-0 Presidents. W&J tacked on a third run when Logan Scheider (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) delivered a clutch two-out single to score Dezenzo. 
 
Misericordia responded with two runs in the second and added three more in the third to take a 5-3 advantage. A two-run blast to right field by Derek Vosburg gave the Cougars the lead during the frame. 
 
Back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the fourth strengthened the Misericordia lead to 6-3 and in the process chased Horvat from the mound. The Cougars tacked on another run on a safety squeeze to extend the lead to 7-3 after four innings. 
 
W&J cut the deficit in half with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning. Scheider led off with a double and Horvat followed with a walk on a 3-2 pitch. Trevor Dean (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) tacked on a single to load the bases. After an RBI groundout by Lutz, Sante delivered an RBI single on the first pitch to bring the deficit to 7-5. 
 
Lutz brought the Presidents within a run with a solo home run in the top of the seventh. W&J put the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position but a soft lineout ended the threat. 
 
Misericordia scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to gain some breathing room. W&J scored a run in the ninth when Zaas singled home Dante DiMatteo (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) to make the score 10-7. The Presidents brought the tying run to the plate but could not do more damage. 
 
Dean, Sante and Scheider paced the offense with three hits apiece in the loss. 
 
Horvat started and suffered the loss. The senior surrendered seven runs in three innings of work. Horvat's record falls to 11-3 this season. The loss is only the fourth in Horvat's collegiate career. 
 
Ethan Boring (Ligonier, Pa./Ligonier Valley) and Brandon Bastian (Barto, Pa./The Hill School) turned in strong outings out of the bullpen. Boring tossed three scoreless innings and allowed just two hits. Bastian allowed no runs and recorded the final six outs. 
 
NOTES: W&J pitchers recorded just one strikeout Friday. Meanwhile, Misericordia pitchers registered 10 strikeouts. The teams combined for 26 hits with W&J having a 14-12 edge in the category. The meeting Friday was the fourth in the head-to-head series. W&J won the previous three meetings - all of which have come in the NCAA Tournament. W&J and Keystone will match up in Saturday's first game. The Presidents and Giants last met in the 2017 NCAA Regional at Ross Memorial Park. Each of the previous four meetings have come in the postseason. The teams met in the ECAC Tournaments in 2005, 2006 and 2007.