WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team closed the 2022 season Friday by dropping a pair of games in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, hosted by top-seeded Washington & Jefferson at Ross Memorial Park. Grove City opened the day with a 5-4 setback to W&J in the winner's bracket final Friday afternoon. Friday night, Westminster slipped past the Wolverines, 10-7.

Grove City trailed 4-0 in Friday's opener before trimming the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth. Freshman third baseman Mally Kilbane (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls) walked with the bases loaded, forcing home sophomore shortstop Lucca Baccari (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford). Junior catcher C.J. Saylor (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) followed with a two-run double that scored senior left fielder Jesse Clary (Cranberry Township, Pa./Eden Christian) and freshman second baseman Luke Vittone (Seven Fields, Pa./Eden Christian).

W&J, the designated visiting team, added a run in the ninth on a force play. Freshman third baseman Shane Cato (New Castle, Pa./Shenango) singled with one out, moving freshman pinch runner Sam DiStefano (Fairview, Pa./Fairview). DiStefano then scored on a passed ball, which also moved Saylor to second. However, the Wolverines stranded Saylor at second.

Baccari tripled for Grove City while Saylor finished 2 for 4. Cato went 2 for 2 after replacing the injured Kilbane.

Freshman pitcher Evan Umland (Pasadena, Calif./La Canada) gave up two earned runs and struck out six men in eight innings for Grove City. Umland took the setback, however. Sophomore Nick Guidas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) pitched a perfect ninth inning in relief. 

Grove City trailed 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth against Westminster but surged ahead with a six-run outburst. Saylor's infield single scored Vittone while a throwing error scored freshman center fielder Nico Rodriguez (Stafford, Va./Mountain View). Baccari cut the lead to 5-4 when his sacrifice fly scored Saylor.

The Wolverines then took the lead when junior right fielder Anthony Tambellini (Pittsburgh, Pa./Montour) belted a three-run double that scored Clary, Cato and sophomore DH Markus Williams (Sewickley, Pa./Eden Christian). 

Westminster reclaimed the lead with four runs in the top of the sixth, however, then added a run in the eighth inning.

Rodriguez doubled twice as part of a 3-for-5 performance. He scored Grove City's first run when he came home on a first-inning sacrifice fly by senior first baseman Bubba Hamilton (Garner, N.C./Waynesboro, Pa.). Saylor also went 3 for 5 while Baccari finished 3 for 4. Clary went 2 for 2. Grove City finished with 14 hits.

Guidas started and allowed six earned runs in five innings. He struck out four and walked one.

Junior Elijah White (Zelienople, Pa./Portersville Christian), senior Robby Randolph (Cranberry Township, Pa./North Catholic) and Cato pitched in relief. White absorbed the defeat, allowed two earned runs in one-third of an inning. Randolph yielded one run in two innings while Cato recorded the final five outs.

Grove City finished the season 28-14. The Wolverines tied the single-season record for wins, matching the 2019 and 2021 teams.