WASHINGTON, Pa. (pacathletics.org)--Second-ranked and top-seeded Washington & Jefferson College earned a 3-0 victory over No. 4 Saint Vincent College in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Baseball Championship Tournament title game Saturday afternoon. 

The conference championship is W&J's second-straight and 13th overall. 

W&J (36-1) earned its spot in Saturday's title round with a 1-0 victory over No. 2 Grove City College to open play Friday afternoon. Saint Vincent (17-18) defeated No. 3 Franciscan University (16-19) 13-4 in the day's first elimination game before registering a 5-3 win over Grove City (28-10) in the day's second elimination game.  

Saturday was Saint Vincent's first-ever appearance in the title round. The Bearcats are the second-straight No. 4 seed (Bethany, 2019) to earn a spot in the championship tournament's title round. 

The league’s four-team, double-elimination championship tournament was held Thursday-Saturday, May 13-15 at Ross Memorial Park in Washington.

As the winner of this year's PAC Championship Tournament, W&J claimed the PAC's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Team selections for the Division III Championship are scheduled to be announced Sunday, May 23. Regional round play scheduled for Thursday-Monday, May 27-31.
 

Saturday, May 15

PAC Championship Tournament [Game F] No. 4 Saint Vincent vs. No. 1 W&J Ross Memorial Park--Washington, Pa.

Result: W&J 3, Saint Vincent 0 Box score

W&J, designated the visiting team in Saturday's opener by virtue of Division III baseball’s postseason home team formula, scored runs in the first and third innings to grab a 2-0 lead... Sophomore Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa. | Penn-Trafford) scored on senior Adam Moore's (Olean, N.Y. | Archbishop Walsh) RBI fielder's choice in the first... Horvat scored on senior Adam Morris' (South Park, Pa. | South Park) RBI groundout in the third... In the eighth Morris scored on junior Nate Rush's (Wheeling, W.Va. | The Linsley School) RBI single... Senior Nick Drake (Canonsburg, Pa. | Canon-McMillan) recorded a season-high eight strikeouts and allowed just one hit in 7.0 innings to earn the victory... Drake limited Saint Vincent to just one baserunner through the first 5.0 innings... He carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning... Drake is 7-0 this spring... Rush finished with a pair of hits... Senior Michael Zito (Nashville, Tenn. | Hume-Fogg) recorded the final six outs for his PAC-leading seventh save... Freshman Julian Santana (Harrisburg, Pa. | Central Dauphin East), sophomore Jordan Sabol (Export, Pa. | Penn-Trafford) and senior Matt Evans (New Brighton, Pa. | Quigley Catholic) all had base hits for Saint Vincent... Senior Brenden Lavely (Johnstown, Pa. | Bishop McCort) allowed three runs (3 earned) in 7.0 innings... He struck out five... The W&J pitching staff surrendered just one run and nine hits over the 27 innings during their three games in the PAC Championship Tournament.

 

Friday, May 14

PAC Championship Tournament [Game E] No. 4 Saint Vincent vs.  No. 2 Grove City Ross Memorial Park--Washington, Pa.

Result: Saint Vincent 5, Grove City 3 Box score

Saint Vincent senior Tom Bash (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Upper St. Clair) improved to 7-1 this spring with the Game E victory... Bash allowed three runs (3 earned) on eight hits with four strikeouts and a walk in 6.0 innings... Senior Matt Evans (New Brighton, Pa. | Quigley Catholic) picked up his seventh save of the season, yielding just three hits in 3.0 relief innings... Grove City sophomore Noah Cyphert (Kittanning, Pa. | Armstrong) hit pinch-hit solo home run in the sixth inning, cutting Saint Vincent's lead to 4-3... Evans scored on a wild pitch in the seventh to provide Saint Vincent with an insurance run... Saint Vincent sophomore Jordan Sabol (Export, Pa. | Penn-Trafford) went 3-for-4 with an RBI... Freshman Julian Santana (Harrisburg, Pa. | Central Dauphin East) went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base... Grove City stranded eight runners in scoring position... Grove City senior Tanner Orner (Carlisle, Pa. | Cumberland Valley) doubled as part of a 3-for-5 outing while sophomore C.J. Saylor (Lancaster, Pa. | Hempfield) doubled and singled... Grove City's 28 wins this season match the program record, set in 2019... The Wolverines won a school-record 22 league games this spring.

 

Friday, May 14

PAC Championship Tournament [Game D] No. 4 Saint Vincent vs.  No. 3 Francisan Ross Memorial Park--Washington, Pa.

Result: Saint Vincent 13, Franciscan 4 Box score

Saint Vincent posted five runs in the top of the first and scored four more in the second… Senior TJ Dailey (McMurray, Pa. | Peters Township) keyed the five-run first with a three-run home run… It was Dailey's fifth home run of the spring... Saint Vincent started the game with six-straight hits… Junior Justin Wright (Greensburg, Pa. | Hempfield) had a two-run single in the second… Franciscan answered with three runs in the second... Sophomore Brendan Burke (Detroit, Mich. | Detroit Catholic Central) had a run-scoring single... Junior Patrick Wallace (Mobile, Ala. | McGill Toolen Catholic) later scored on an error... Dailey went 3-for-4 with a home run, five RBIs and a pair of runs scored… Sophomore Jordan Sabol (Export, Pa. | Penn-Trafford) went 4-for-5 with three runs… Saint Vincent piled up 20 hits in the win... Junior starter Zach Barberich (Middletown, Md. | St. Johns Catholic Prep.) earned the victory for Saint Vincent, allowing four runs (1 earned) on seven hits with a pair of strikeouts and a walk... Senior Matt Evans (New Brighton, Pa. | Quigley Catholic) posted his sixth save this season after allowing two hits over 3.0 relief innings... He struck out two and walked two.

 

Friday, May 14

PAC Championship Tournament [Game C] No. 2 Grove City at No. 1 W&J Ross Memorial Park--Washington, Pa.

Result: W&J 1, Grove City 0 Box score

W&J junior Henry Litman (Marietta, Ga. | Walton) tossed 8.0 scoreless innings in Friday’s opener… He struck out five and walked one while limiting Grove City to just two hits… Litman improved to 9-0 this spring… W&J scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the first inning… Sophomore Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa. | Penn-Trafford) reached on a two-base throwing error by Grove City junior Tate Ostrowski (Essex, Mass. | Covenant Christian) to open the frame… For the second consecutive day, senior Adam Moore (Olean, N.Y. | Archbishop Walsh) delivered an RBI single to stake the Presidents to an early 1-0 lead… A one-out single by senior Bubba Hamilton (Garner, N.C. | Waynesburg (Pa.)) broke up Litman's no-hitter in the seventh inning… Senior Michael Zito (Nashville, Tenn. | Hume-Fogg) retired the side in the ninth to earn his PAC-leading seventh save… Sophomore Logan Scheider (McDonald, Pa. | West Allegheny) and Moore collected two hits apiece to lead the W&J offense... Ostrowski fired his conference-leading seventh complete game in the loss, allowing one run (0 earned) over his 8.0 innings... He struck out nine and allowed seven hits.

  

Thursday, May 13

PAC Championship Tournament [Game B] No. 3 Franciscan vs. No. 2 Grove City Ross Memorial Park--Washington, Pa.

Result: Grove City 9, Franciscan 3 Box score

After tying the game at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the sixth, Grove City plated four runs in the seventh and two more insurance runs in the eighth in Thursday's nightcap... Grove City had 12 hits in the win... Senior Bubba Hamilton (Garner, N.C. | Waynesboro (Pa.)) went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored... Senior Tanner Orner (Carlisle, Pa. | Cumberland Valley) went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI... Senior Bobby Abbott (Westfield, N.J. | Westfield) was 2-for-4 with a run scored... Freshman Nick Guidas (Gibsonia, Pa. | Pine-Richland) earned the win by pitching 7.1 innings out of the bullpen... Guidas allowed one run (1 earned) in his outing, raising his season record to 5-2... Franciscan sophomore Kyle Ferrance (Tempe, Ariz. | Seton Catholic Prep.) went 1-for-4 with two RBIs... Junior Joshua Costello (Steubenville, Ohio | Catholic Central) went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI... Senior Declan Peterson (Grayslake, Ill. | Grayslake North) went 2-for-4.

 

Thursday, May 13

PAC Championship Tournament [Game A] No. 4 Saint Vincent at No. 1 W&J Ross Memorial Park--Washington, Pa.

Result: W&J 7, Saint Vincent 1 Box score

W&J sophomore Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa. | Penn-Trafford) tossed 7.0 strong innings and hit a one-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning Thursday afternoon… Horvat allowed one run (1 earned) on five hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks... He is 9-0 this spring… Junior Jason Gregovits (Avon Lake, Ohio | Avon Lake) went 4-for-4 with a double, an RBI and run scored… Junior Peter Kalinski (Washington, D.C. | Saint John’s College) went 2-for-5 with a run scored… Saint Vincent junior Ben Menarchek (Parkersburg, W.Va. | Parkersburg South) had a sacrifice fly in the seventh… Graduate student Jimmy Malone (Connellsville, Pa. | Connellsville) allowed six runs (6 earned) on nine hits with a strikeout and a pair of walks.