WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team bounced back with a motivating victory over the visiting Marietta Pioneers (Receiving Votes), 6-1.
 
The Presidents lift their 2025 overall record to 8-4 on the season prior to Presidents' Athletic Conference play. The Pioneers slide to 9-7 in nonconference play.
 
W&J was led offensively by Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y./Canisius) and Knox Meier (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep), each batting 2-for-3 on the day with a double each. Drew Garth (Glenshaw, Pa./North Hills) and Luke Alvarez (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) also batted doubles on the night. Josh Dezenzo (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) picked up the remaining hit for the Presidents.
 
After a rapid two innings of play, the Marietta Pioneers struck first with a run in the top of the third. A Pioneer batter reached on an error and was scored to draw in the first run of the game (unearned), 1-0.
 
The Presidents knotted the score at one in the bottom of the fourth. LaDuca kicked it off with a leadoff double to right center and advanced to third on a Paddy Hernjak (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) groundout. Garth batted in LaDuca from third on a double off the center field warning track, 1-1.
 
Making quick work of the Marietta batters in the following inning, W&J's bats continued to roll, taking their first lead of the game. A one-out double from Meier followed by a double by Alvarez added another run, 2-1. LaDuca scored Alvarez from third on a single to shallow center field to take a 3-1 lead.
 
After another quick top of the inning, the Presidents added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Freshman Jack Anderson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) scored Garth from third on an error from the third baseman, 4-1. Zac Stern (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) made a heads up play to score the Presidents' fifth run on a wild pitch.
 
Meier batted in the final run of the outing in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring Dezenzo from second to take the 6-1 victory.
 
Erik Streussnig (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) shoved in his second start of the season, fanning three batters and seeing one unearned run to cross the plate. Streussnig picked up his second victory of the season while only giving up on walk and three hits. Justin Giarrusso (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) and Brendan Cruz (Carnegie, Pa./Chartiers Valley) entered the game in relief to close out the victory.
 
Baseball returns to action on Friday (March 21) to kickoff PAC play against the Geneva Golden Tornadoes at Ross Memorial Park. First pitch is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. start.