Facing elimination, W&J plated four runs in the first, five more in the second and cruised by Mitchell College, 13-6 Saturday night. Roman Samson opened the scoring, hitting into a fielders choice to plate Nate Rush. Trevor Dean, Jacob LaDuca and Joe Lehner followed with consecutive two-out RBI singles. Int he second Peter Kalinski blasted a three-run home run. Three batters later, Trevor Dean hit his fourth home run of the post-season, putting the Red & Black up 9-0. Shane Fox (4-0) pitched the first six innings and picked up the win, allowing three runs on six hits, three walks and three strikeouts. LaDuca added two more run-scoring singles and Tyler Horvat drove in a pair of runs with a two-out single in the sixth. Horvat now has 15 post-season base hits including seven in this regional.
With the win, W&J moves to the Regional Championship Round to face top-seeded Rowan. W&J must win twice to advance. Rowan needs only one victory to claim the region championship. In the semifinal win, Rowan scored seven runs in the final two innings, all with two outs, to blow open a one-run game. W&J had 13 hits in the loss but scored multiple runs only once, plating three in the second, taking a lead that would build to 4-2 an inning later. The Profs went in front to stay with a five-run fifth inning. W&J pulled to within a run in the seventh. Evan Sante’s sac fly with the bases loaded made it 7-6, just missing a grand slam. But Rowan reliever Mike Shannon coaxed a couple easy fly balls to end the threat. The Profs scored four times after two out in the eighth, then added three more runs in the ninth to put it away.
Game time for Sunday has been moved up to 10 am due to expected rough weather later in the day. We’ll have every W&J game in the regional on WJPA-AM (1450) or LISTEN HERE!
Friday
#1 Rowan 7, #4 Mitchell 1
#2 Wash & Jeff 5, #3 Lebanon Valley 1
Saturday
Mitchell 10, Lebanon Valley 8
Rowan 14, Wash & Jeff 7
Wash & Jeff 13, Mitchell College 6
Sunday
10 am Championship Round, W&J vs. Rowan WJPA-AM (1450) or LISTEN HERE!
+45 minutes If Necessary game WJPA-AM (1450) or LISTEN HERE!