Washington & Jefferson Collgeg pitchers held opponents to one total run in a three-game sweep of the Presidents Athletic Conference baseball championship tournament, topping St. Vincent, 3-0, in the championship game. Nick Drake (7-0) allowed just one hit over seven innings to get the win. The right-hander took his no-hit bid into the seventh but had to pitch out of a two-on, one out jam in his final inning. Drake fanned Justin Wright and Ben Menarchek, stranding the potential tying runs. Michael Zito worked the final two innings, earning a league-best eighth save, his second of the tournament. Tyler Horvat, later named the tournament’s most valuable player, walked, stole second, moved to third on a Adam Morris single and scored on Adam Moore’s infield grounder. Moore had a first-inning RBI in all three W&J games in the tournament. Horvat scored again in the third with a similar line: walk, stolen base, fly out toright, infield groundout by Morris. W&J set the final score in the eighth. Morris walked, chasing Bearcats’ starter Brenden Lavely. Morris moved to second on a groundout, held there on a flyball single by Zito and scored on a groundball single to right off the bat of Nate Rush.
The conference championship is the 13th for W&J, nine under the leadership of head coach Jeff Mountain. The title also includes the League’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament which opens with regional competition May 27th. The national playoff brackets will be announced Sunday, May 23. W&J has reached the Division III College World Series twice in the last five years including a runner-up finish in 2017. (photo credit: https://pacathletics.org/)