W&J Tops Bethany; Completes Series Sweep
WASHINGTON, Pa.—Three Washington & Jefferson College pitchers combined to allow just one hit as the Presidents finished a three-game, Presidents' Athletic Conference baseball weekend sweep of Bethany with a 5-1 victory Sunday at Ross Memorial Park. 25th-ranked W&J outscored the Bison 29-1 during the season-opening weekend.
Junior right hander Mike Vizzini (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) struck out six and did not allow a hit in four innings of relief to earn the victory. Classmate Randy Risch (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) pitched the first four frames, allowing one earned run and one base hit, while fanning three. Junior right hander Kyle McLain (East Amherst, N.Y./Canisius) retired Bethany in order in the ninth inning during the first pitching appearance of his career.
W&J hurlers surrendered only nine hits and one run during the three-game series. The Presidents improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2007 when they opened the season with five-straight victories. Vizzini and McLain retired the final 13 batters in order.
A sacrifice fly by junior right fielder Josh Staniscia (Export, Pa./Franklin Regional) plated classmate Derek McIlvaine (Washington, Pa./Chartiers-Houston) to give the Presidents a 1-0 first-inning lead.
After Bethany (0-3, 0-3) knotted the game at one in the top of the third, the Bison committed a fielding error, allowing junior first baseman D.J. Michalski (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) to score, putting the Presidents back in the lead during the bottom of the frame.
W&J pushed its lead to 5-1 with a pair of eighth-inning runs. Junior catcher Tyler Schultz (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville) was hit by a pitch with two outs and sophomore shortstop Kyle Smith (Pickerington, Ohio/Central) followed with an inside-the-park home run to cap the scoring. Smith drove a ball into the right-center field gap and sped around the bases for the first collegiate extra-base hit.
Smith, Schultz, junior second baseman Matt Fry (State College, Pa./State College) and classmate Ronny Peirish (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland) all recorded one hit for the Presidents. Smith and Fry both stole a base.
Josh Dow tallied the lone hit for the Bison with two outs in the fourth inning, while pitcher Ryan Styche took the loss despite allowing just three runs (one earned) on three hits in 5.2 innings of work.
The Presidents make their annual Spring Break trek to Florida next week beginning with a doubleheader against SUNY-Plattsburgh Sunday in Lakeland (2:00 pm).
