GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College baseball team closed its 2024 home schedule Monday afternoon by sweeping a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader from league-leading Washington & Jefferson (25-11, 15-3 PAC) at Jack Behringer Field. Grove City earned a 13-1 win in the opener, then held on for a 4-3 victory in Game Two.

Grove City (22-12, 13-5) clinched a berth in next week's conference tournament with the Game One victory. The Wolverines remain mathematically alive for the top seed in the six-team tournament, which will be held May 8-11 in Washington, Pa. 

The Wolverines amassed 16 hits in the opener as three men had three-hit outings. Freshman third baseman Sam Bevin (Louisville, Ky./Wake County) tripled, doubled, singled, walked twice and scored four runs. Junior shortstop Luke Vittone (Seven Fields, Pa./Eden Christian) went 3 for 4 and junior right fielder Josh Minnich (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) finished 3 for 5. 

Freshman left fielder Caison Holland (Freedom, Pa./Ambridge) doubled twice while senior first baseman Markus Williams (Sewickley, Pa./Eden Christian) doubled and singled. 

Sophomore center fielder Nick Sampson (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) launched a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to invoke the 10-run mercy rule. It is Sampson's first collegiate round-tripper. 

Grove City led 6-1 entering the eighth inning before sealing the win with a seven-run outburst after two outs had been recorded. Minnich cracked a two-run single that scored Bevin and junior catcher Sam DiStefano (Fairview, Pa./Fairview). Williams then doubled in Minnich and sophomore left fielder Trey Wagner (Mars, Pa./Mars). Sampson's game-ending three-run blast scored Vittone and Williams. 

Senior pitcher Nick Guidas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine Richland) earned the win by allowing one run in 5 1/3 innings. Guidas (4-3) struck out six men while allowing four hits and two walks. Junior David Leslie (Butler, Pa./Butler) allowed one hit in 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Leslie fanned three men. 

Wagner gave Grove City a 3-0 lead in the third inning of Game Two as his two-out, bases-loaded double scored Vittone, Williams and sophomore third baseman Kenny Lavrich (Franklin, Pa./Cranberry). Vittone singled in Minnich one inning later, pushing the lead to 4-0. 

W&J scored three times in the top of the ninth inning but junior reliever Evan Umland (Pasadena, Calif./La Canada) ended the threat with the tying run at second base. Umland recorded the final two outs for his first save of the season. 

Bevin earned the win by pitching 8 1/3 innings. He allowed three runs while striking out four men. Bevin (6-2) yielded six hits. 

Williams led Grove City with a pair of singles. W&J held Grove City to five hits in the nightcap. Both teams left on 10 runners. 

Umland now has 10 career saves, which ranks second in program history. Justin Miller recorded a dozen saves from 2004 to 2007. Vittone has moved into a tie for fifth place all-time at Grove City with 111 runs scored. He is tied with Ben Wilson (2006-09) and Marcus Magister (2008-11). 

W&J owns a 15-3 record entering Saturday's conference action. The Presidents visit Allegheny (13-5). Waynesburg has concluded its conference schedule with a 15-5 record. If Allegheny sweeps W&J and Grove City sweeps Chatham this Saturday, that would create a four-way for first place at 15-5. In that scenario, Grove City would be 4-2 against the other teams in the tie as the Wolverines previously split with Allegheny and Waynesburg. Waynesburg and Allegheny would both be 3-3 in the four-way tie and W&J 2-4. 

Grove City honored Guidas, Williams, senior second baseman Lucca Baccari (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) and senior pitcher Christian Hoffman (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) following the doubleheader sweep. Those four men have helped Grove City to a 108-47 record over the last four seasons.

The Wolverines conclude the regular season Saturday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Chatham. Chatham will enter the weekend in a three-way tie in the conference at 9-9. Thiel and Westminster are both 9-9 while Saint Vincent (7-11) could end up in a four-way tie at 9-11. Two of those teams will round out the conference tournament field.