WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College baseball team (3-1) picked up a 5-1 top 15 win over the No. 11 ranked Case Western Reserve Spartans (4-2).
 
Junior Brendan Cruz (Carnegie, Pa./Chartiers Valley) got the call for his first start of the year and opened his 2026 campaign with two hitless innings to open the contest. Cruz had a strong outing, pitching 5.0 innings. The junior had eight strikeouts, only gave up three hits, and no earned runs.
 
Senior Josh Dezenzo (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) led the Presidents' offense going two for four, with a double and a run scored. Additionally, senior Ben Schuler (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) went one for three with two RBIs and a walk.
 
The Presidents got the bats going in the bottom of the third, scoring two from sacrifice flies to the outfield. Sophomore Keegan Carr (Irwin, Pa./Norwin / Indiana University of Pennsylvania) worked on the pitch count and drew a walk. Dezenzo doubled and Jack Anderson (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) hit a sacrifice fly to left field, which scored Carr. Sophomore Tommy Dietrich (Davidsonville, Md./DeMatha Catholic) hit an additional sacrifice fly to center field, which scored Dezenzo for W&J's second run of the inning.
 
The Spartans got their lone run of the contest in the fifth inning from a bases loaded hit by pitch. W&J responded in the bottom of the sixth with a run of their own to extend the lead. Junior Andrew Miko (Portage, Pa./Portage) got hit by a pitch for the second time in the contest before advancing to second on a wild pitch and stealing third. A throwing error by the Spartans allowed Miko to score.
 
A strong defensive inning in the top of the seventh kept the two-run advantage for the Presidents. Relief pitcher Thomas McLaren (Mars, Pa./Mars Area) got out of a crucial jam by forcing the Spartans to hit into a costly 6-4-3 double play.
 
W&J picked up their final two runs of the ball game in the eighth inning to help secure the victory against Case Western Reserve. Cruz's five inning performance gave him the win and senior Max Stanger (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph Collegiate) recorded his first career save by pitching the closing two hitless innings.
 
W&J returns to action after a week's break when they travel to the Orlando area for the RussMatt Invitational. The Presidents' first contest on the spring break trip takes place on Sunday (Mar. 8) when they take on the Utica Pioneers in Davenport.