PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Chatham Baseball (25-11, 11-9 PAC) split their doubleheader on Saturday with Washington & Jefferson (27-9, 16-4), taking game one on a walk-off single by
Cooper Baxter but dropping game two 3-0.
The Cougars trailed 1-0 in game one when the Presidents scored in the top of the first, but tied it when
Dominic Colarusso scored on an error.
Angelo DeLeonardis then tripled to bring around Colarusso, then scored on
Eddie Rueda's sacrifice fly to make the Chatham lead 3-1. The Presidents got a run back in the seventh before
Cooper Baxter's base knock brought in
Evan Swift for a 4-2 advantage. In the eighth, W&J homered to tie the score at 4. The Cougars would load the bases in the ninth, and
Cooper Baxter lined a ball to left center field to bring home Colarusso and secure a Chatham victory.
Colarusso went 4-4 at the plate in game one and scored 3 times. Baxter was 3-4 with 2 RBIs and a walk for the Cougars. DeLeonardis went 3-4, driving in a run and scoring once. Rueda was 1-2 with an RBI and walked twice.
Cason Bennett started the game on the mound for Chatham and allowed 2 earned runs on 5 hits while walking 3 and striking out 6. Ethen Botkin relieved Bennett for the remainder of the game and picked up the win, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits with a strikeout.
Game two saw the Presidents' Brendan Cruz take a no-hit bid into the eighth inning, when
Matt Brandt's infield single gave the Cougars their second baserunner of the game. W&J scored a run in the first and 2 in the fourth, which would be all they would need in the pitcher's duel. Chatham picked up another hit in the ninth inning on
Nolan Boehm's single to center field but would ultimately fall by the 3-run margin.
Matt Bamford punched out 10 Presidents in his 6-inning start, allowing 3 earned runs on 8 hits with 4 walks.
Riley Baum tossed the final 3 innings for Chatham and gave up just a base hit and a walk while striking out one with no runs allowed. Boehm and Brandt were the only Cougars with hits.
Keegan McGraw and Rueda both reached by getting hit by pitches.
Chatham returns to the field on Thursday at Penn State Behrend for their final non-conference matchup of 2026, beginning at 4 p.m.
