WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team scored nine unanswered runs Thursday afternoon in earning a 9-3 victory over Franciscan in the opening round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, hosted by Washington & Jefferson at Ross Memorial Park.

Second-seeded Grove City (28-8) will now face top-seeded W&J (34-1) at noon Friday in the winner's bracket final. W&J topped Saint Vincent, 7-1, in Thursday's first game.

Freshman reliever Nick Guidas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) earned the win by pitching 7 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. Guidas allowed one run in his outing, raising his season record to 5-2.

Grove City trailed 3-0 entering the fourth inning but broke through when sophomore third baseman C.J. Saylor (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) scored on a single by senior second baseman Bobby Abbott (Westfield, N.J./Westfield). 

The Wolverines then forged a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning. Senior catcher Tanner Orner (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) drove in senior first baseman Bubba Hamilton (Garner, N.C./Waynesboro, Pa.) with a groundout. Abbott then scored the tying run on a wild pitch.

Grove City surged ahead with a four-run seventh inning. Sophomore right fielder Anthony Tambellini (PIttsburgh, Pa./Montour) squeezed home junior pinch runner Matt Knauer (Allison Park, Pa./Eden Christian) with the go-ahead run. 

An error scored senior left fielder Jesse Clary (Cranberry Township, Pa./Eden Christian). Abbott later hit into a force play, scoring Tambellini. Saylor caught the Franciscan defense off guard by breaking for home and scoring on the play. 

Grove City added two insurance runs in the eighth inning as freshman shortstop Lucca Baccari (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) scored on an error and Clary later scored on a Saylor single.

Hamilton doubled twice while Orner singled and doubled. Abbott, Clary and Saylor also had two hits each as Grove City finished with a dozen hits.

Sophomore Calvin Burns (Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic) started for the Wolverines and allowed two runs in 1 2/3 innings. 

W&J won all four meetings with Grove City this year by a combined five runs. The winner of the 12 p.m. Friday game advances to Saturday's championship game. The losing team will play the Franciscan-Saint Vincent winner at 6 p.m. Friday in an elimination game.