WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team played to a split of a non-conference doubleheader with visitor Otterbein University Thursday afternoon at Ross Memorial Park.
The split moves W&J to 26-12 overall while Otterbein holds a 25-11 overall record.
Game 1 - Otterbein 17, W&J 8
The Presidents got out to a roaring start in the bottom of the first as they tacked on six quick runs.
Nolan Lutz (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette),
Dan Beistel (Canfield, Ohio / Canfield), and
Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio / Wellington School) each tallied a hit that would score a runner.
Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y. / Canisius), Logan Schieder (McDonald, Pa. / West Allegheny), and
Trevor Dean (San Diego, Calif. / Rancho Bernardo) would also tally an RBI in the first inning of play as the Presidents looked to make this a long day for the Otterbein pitching staff.
W&J would later tack on another run in the bottom of the third off of the bat of Lutz, as he scored the speedster
Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa. / Penn-Trafford) to grow to Presidents lead 7-0 over Otterbein.
The Cardinals would quickly find their rhythm against the Presidents pitching staff and bullpen as they scored 13 straight runs between the fourth and sixth innings to take a 13-7 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Freshman
Josh Dezenzo (Alliance, Ohio / Marlington) stayed hot at the plate, as he scored pinch runner
John Klein (Vienna, Va. / Madison) with an RBI single in the sixth. The Cardinals finished the scoring with three more insurance runs in the seventh to take a 17-8 victory over the Presidents.
Despite the loss Horvat, Lutz, Zaas, and Dezenzo would all register two hits each. Lutz would add a team-high two RBI to his totals.
Will Frank (Davie, Fla. / NSU University School) pitched in relief and suffered the loss for W&J.
Ethan Boring (Ligonier, Pa./Ligonier Valley) started and worked 2.2 scoreless innings in a strong work on the mound.
Game 2 - W&J 9, Otterbein 8
Evan Sante (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Plum) would drive in two runners with a double to right center, scoring Dean and Lutz, to give W&J a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game two.
Otterbein would even the score on a two-run homer by Jamie Perebzak in the fourth. W&J quickly countered with three runs in the bottom of the frame.
W&J regained the lead with a two-run single by Horvat in the fourth. Horvat then swiped second which allowed
Sam Schuster (Fairport Harbor, Ohio / Fairport Harding) to score from third to make the score 5-2.
The Presidents stretched their lead to 9-3 with four runs in the fifth. Highlighting the inning was an RBI single by Dezenzo.
Otterbein scored five times in the top of the sixth inning to trim the deficit to just one at 9-8.
Mason Kolbe (Bradenton, Fla. / Out-of-Door Academy) would ensure the Presidents victory as he completed a fast seventh inning with two strikeouts and infield groundout to end game two.
Sante led the Presidents with two hits while Horvat tallied three RBI.
Shane Fox (Valencia, Pa. / Mars Area) registered the start and went 2.1 innings allowing no runs on two hits.
Ben Pierce (Bel Air, Md. / John Carroll) garnered the win while Kolbe picked up his second save of the season.
On Deck: W&J hosts Allegheny College on Saturday, May 6 for a conference doubleheader at Ross Memorial Park. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Senior Day will precede the doubleheader.
