PITTSBURGH -- The Grove City College baseball team improved to 12-4 overall by sweeping a non-conference doubleheader Monday afternoon at La Roche. Grove City won the opener, 7-4, then picked up a 16-2 win in Game Two.

Grove City jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of Game One. Sophomore right fielder Josh Minnich (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) singled home freshman center fielder Nick Sampson (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) to open the scoring. Consecutive bases-loaded walks to senior catcher C.J. Saylor (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) and sophomore third baseman Shane Cato (New Castle, Pa./Shenango) extended the lead to 3-0 as sophomore DH Mally Kilbane (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls) and Minnich respectively scored.

Cato drove in Minnich with a single in the third inning, pushing the lead to 4-0. In the fifth inning, junior second baseman Lucca Baccari (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) extended the lead with a two-run single that scored Saylor and junior first baseman Markus Williams (Sewickley, Pa./Eden Christian).

La Roche cut Grove City's lead to 6-4 in the sixth inning but Grove City added an insurance run in the top of the seventh as Cato scored on a sacrifice fly from sophomore shortstop Luke Vittone (Seven Fields, Pa./Eden Christian). 

Minnich went 2 for 2 while Sampson finished 2 for 5. Minnich and Williams both doubled.

Senior pitcher Tate Ostrowski (Essex, Mass./Covenant Christian) earned the win after throwing five shutout innings. He struck out six and allowed three hits. Kilbane pitched in relief during the sixth inning. Sophomore Isaiah Zuchowski (Barneveld, N.Y./Poland) recorded the final four outs for his first collegiate save. Zuchowski struck out one and did not allow a hit.

Grove City produced a five-run second inning and an eight-run outburst in the third inning to take control of the nightcap. Kilbane's two-run single highlighted the second inning. In the third, Sampson laced a two-run double and Baccari cracked a two-run triple. 

Baccari finished 2 for 3 with three runs scored. Sampson scored three times and knocked in three runs while Vittone scored four times. Cato doubled and scored a pair of runs while sophomore right fielder Bryce Tagliatella (Middlebury, Conn./Pomperaug Regional) also scored twice. 

Sophomore pitcher David Leslie (Butler, Pa./Butler) earned the win by pitching five innings. He struck out six while yielding two runs and five hits. Junior Christian Hoffmann (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) pitched a scoreless sixth inning and sophomore Evan Umland (Pasadena, Calif./La Canada) closed out the win with a scoreless seventh. Hoffmann and Umland each struck out one.

Winners of 10 out of the last 11 games, Grove City will begin Presidents' Athletic Conference play Saturday at Westminster. First pitch will be 1 p.m.