WASHINGTON, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Junior Jacob LaDuca (Clarence, N.Y./Canisius) hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in the seventh inning and Washington & Jefferson College held on for a 4-2 victory over Grove City College in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Baseball Tournament Championship game Saturday afternoon at Ross Memorial Park in Washington, Pa.

The title is the fifth in a row for the Presidents (32-12) and 16th overall in program history. It matches the longest consecutive baseball title streak since Allegheny won five straight from 1960-64. 

The first two innings went by without a run, as W&J freshman pitcher Bobby Budacki (New Brighton, Pa./New Brighton) and Grove City senior Nick Guidas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) swapped zeroes on the scoreboard, with Guidas striking out the side in the second.

Grove City managed the first run of the game in the third when freshman Sam Bevin (Louisville, Ky./Wake County) doubled with one out and cruised home on an RBI single by freshman Caison Holland (Freedom, Pa./Ambridge). The Grove City lead doubled to 2-0 in the fifth inning when Bevin hammered a solo homer to left. 

W&J finally reached Guidas in the bottom of the fifth after being held hitless through the first four innings. Their first hit was a leadoff single by sophomore Josh Dezenzo (Alliance, Ohio/Marlington) and his pinch-runner, freshman Paddy Hernjak (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley), came across on an RBI single by sophomore Ben Schuler (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette). LaDuca then collected his first RBI of the game when his ground out brought in Schuler and it was a tie game at 2-2.

Budacki came out after his five innings, as he allowed two runs on four hits with a pair of punchouts. He was relieved by sophomore Nate Nolan (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny), who stranded runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh innings to keep the game tied.

The W&J half of the seventh seemed like it would go quickly when Guidas retired the first two batters. Then Schuler doubled down the right-field line for his second hit of the game to bring up LaDuca. The 2023 PAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, due in part to his solo homer in the 10th inning to beat Grove City in the winner's bracket final last year, delivered again. After fouling off several two-strike pitches, LaDuca went opposite field with a two-run homer over the right-field wall to lift the Presidents into the lead at 4-2. 

After allowing base runners in his first two innings of work, Nolan made quick work of Grove City in the eighth and ninth innings. He retired the final six batters in order, including back-to-back strikeouts to end the game. Nolan earned the win with four scoreless innings of relief, as he limited the Wolverines to two hits and he walked two while striking out two.

LaDuca was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament for the second year in a row. Including his clutch homer in the title game, LaDuca finished the Tournament 7-for-16 (.438) with five RBIs and nine runs scored. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by junior Drew Garth (Glenshaw, Pa./North Hills), junior pitcher Ethan Marszalek (Katy, Texas/Seven Lakes), freshman Zac Stern (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) and junior Scout Zaas (Powell, Ohio/Wellington School).

Bevin was named to the All-Tournament Team for Grove City, as he went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in the final game. Guidas also made All-Tournament, as he helped throw a shutout in the opening win over Westminster and came back two days later to throw all eight innings Saturday while allowing four runs on five hits with zero walks and 10 Ks in a hard-luck defeat.

Wolverine junior David Leslie (Butler, Pa./Butler) rounded out Grove City's representation on the All-Tournament Team. The complete All-Tournament Team is linked above.

With the PAC championship, W&J has earned the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Selections for the Division III Championship are scheduled to be announced Monday, May 13 with regional preliminary round play slated for Thursday-Monday, May 16-20. Regional champions will compete in the Super Regionals, a best-of-three series, to determine the eight participants in this year's Division III College World Series, scheduled for Friday-Thursday, May 31-June 6. The Division III College World Series will be held at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio. 

2024 PAC Baseball Championship Tournament
All Games at Ross Memorial Park - Washington, Pa.

Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Game A - No. 1 Washington & Jefferson 6, No. 6 Thiel 5
Game B - No. 2 Grove City 4, No. 5 Westminster 0
Game C - No. 4 Allegheny 4, No. 3 Waynesburg 2

Thursday, May 9, 2024
Game D - No. 5 Westminster 2, No. 6 Thiel 0 (THI eliminated)
Game E - No. 1 Washington & Jefferson 10, Waynesburg 3 (WAY eliminated)
Game F - No. 2 Grove City 6, No. 4 Allegheny 0

Friday, May 10, 2024
Game G - No. 5 Westminster 5, No. 4 Allegheny 4 (ALL eliminated)
Game H - No. 1 Washington & Jefferson 12, No. 2 Grove City 5
Game I - No. 2 Grove City 8, No. 5 Westminster 4 (WES eliminated)

Saturday, May 11, 2024
Game J - No. 1 Washington & Jefferson 4, No. 2 Grove City 2