Baseball | 5/9/2026 7:15:00 PM
WASHINGTON, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Washington & Jefferson College won its 17th overall Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Baseball championship Saturday with an 11-2 victory over Groce City College in the tournament title game. The PAC Tournament was held once again at W&J's Ross Memorial Park.
In addition to being the 17th in program history, this is the sixth in the last seven years for W&J.
As the PAC Championship Tournament winner, W&J also claims 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 11 with regional preliminary round play slated for Friday-Sunday, May 15-17. The NCAA selection show will be on NCAA.com at 12 pm.
Game J - No. 2 W&J 11, No. 5 Grove City 2
- W&J (32-11) erupted for four runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth to take control and go on to an 11-2 victory over Grove City (22-18).
- The Wolverines tallied the opening run in the first inning when a ball hit by left fielder Dan Luko couldn't be handled and he was credited with an RBI and a 1-0 Grove City lead.
- After being held scoreless through the first four innings, W&J got on the board in the fifth, first on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Josh Dezenzo.
- The next batter was catcher Luke Alvarez, who smacked a three-run homer to lift the Presidents to a 4-1 lead.
- W&J tacked on four more runs in the sixth, highlighted by RBI singles by Dezenzo and third baseman Seth Rosenfeld and a RBI squeeze bunt by center fielder Paddy Hernjak.
- The Presidents padded their lead with a solo home run in the seventh by first baseman Jack Anderson and a two-run blast by Alvarez in the 8th.
- Earning the win on the mound for W&J was Bobby Budacki, who came on in relief in the fourth and threw the final six frames, allowing one unearned run on three hits with three Ks.
- After going 2-for-5 with two long balls, five RBIs and two runs in the title game, Alvarez was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
- Also making All-Tournament from the Presidents was Anderson, who had three hits and the homer in the final; Rosenfeld, who collected two hits, one RBI and scored twice on Saturday; Hernjak, who had seven hits in the Tournament; and pitcher Brendan Cruz, who threw a complete game three-hitter in the opening win of the week.
- Grove City was led on Saturday by Luko, who had two hits and drove in both runs, and second baseman Nick Sampson, who hit two singles and scored once.
- Earning All-Tournament Team honors for the Wolverines was center fielder David Chandler, first baseman Colin Marinpetro and pitcher Wyatt Hopson.
2026 PAC Baseball Championship Tournament
All games at Ross Memorial Park - Washington, Pa.
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Game A - No. 6 Chatham 9, No. 1 Westminster 0
Game B - No. 2 Washington & Jefferson 5, No. 5 Grove City 1
Game C - No. 4 Bethany 11, No. 3 Allegheny 5
Thursday, May 7, 2026
Game D - No. 5 Grove City 12, No. 1 Westminster 1 (WES eliminated)
Game E - No. 6 Chatham 9, No. 3 Allegheny 6 (ALL eliminated)
Game F - No. 2 W&J 10, No. 4 Bethany 1
Friday, May 8, 2026
Game G - No. 5 Grove City 8, No. 4 Bethany 7 (BET eliminated)
Game H - No. 2 W&J 7, No. 6 Chatham 4
Game I - No. 5 Grove City 7, No. 6 Chatham 5, 10 inn. (CHA eliminated)
Saturday, May 9, 2026
Games J - No. 2 W&J 11, No. 5 Grove City 2