WASHINGTON, PA - Twice facing elimination on day two of the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, the Bearcats went 2-0 in must-win games to advance to the conference's championship round.
 
In the opener, fourth-seeded SVC used an early offensive barrage to defeat third-seeded Franciscan 13-4, while in game two, the Bearcats held off a number of advances from second-seeded Grove City to defeat the Wolverines 5-3.
 
The two victories move the Bearcats' record to 17-17 on the season. They will now face tourney host and top-seed Washington & Jefferson at 1 p.m. on Saturday.   
 

GAME ONE - SAINT VINCENT 13, FRANCISCAN 4

Saint Vincent belted 20 hits, led by a 4-for-5 effort from Jordan Sabol and three-hit days from both TJ Dailey and Matt Evans. In all, 10 different players recorded at least one hit for the Bearcats, while seven tallied multiple hits. Dailey drove in five RBIs and Justin Wright three, while Sabol and Evans each scored three times.
 
Zach Barberich got the win on the mound, working six strong innings and allowing just one earned run and seven hits, while Matt Evans came on in relief and earned his sixth save with three scoreless innings of work.
 
The Bearcats got off to a hot start in the top of the first inning. Julian Santana led off the game with a double to the fence in right-center, before Jordan Sabol reached on a base hit bunt to put runners at first and third. After a Matt Evans single to left plated Santana, T.J. Dailey cleared the bases with a three-run home run off the scoreboard in left field to give SVC a 4-0 lead before an out was recorded.
 
Jayke Saiani followed up Dailey's homer with a single and after stealing second base, the sophomore trotted home on a double to the left-field corner by Wright to make the score 5-0.
 
In the top of the second, Saint Vincent's offense continued to roll. Sabol and Evans racked back-to-back singles before a one-bagger from Dailey plated Sabol to make it 6-0. On the very next pitch, Saiani made it 7-0 with an RBI double off the fence in left-center. Wright then tallied his second hit in as many innings with a sharp single to center to plate Dailey and Saiani and up the lead to 9-0.
 
Franciscan looked to trim the deficit, taking advantage of a pair of two-out SVC errors in the bottom of the second to score three times, before adding another two-out run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the gap to 9-4.
 
The Bearcats got a pair of runs back in the top of the fifth. Santana started things by drawing a leadoff walk, before advancing to third on a Sabol single. An RBI groundout from Evans plated Santana, before Sabol crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly from Dailey to up the lead to 11-4.
 
Barberich would then hold the Barons without a hit over the next two frames to keep the lead at seven runs, before handing the ball over to Evans.
 
Looking to help his own cause, Evans led off the eighth inning with a double to the fence in right-center. After taking third on a wild pitch, pinch hitter Jimmy Malone laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Evans with SVC's 12th run of the afternoon.
 
The Bearcats closed out the game's scoring in the top of the ninth, with an RBI single by Santana bringing home Tyler Becker, who opened the inning with a one-base hit.
 
Joining Sabol, Dailey and Evans with multi-hit games were Santana, Saiani, Wright and Joe Rudzinski, who each had two hits.
 

GAME TWO: SAINT VINCENT 5, GROVE CITY 3

As was the case in their first game of the day, the Bearcats found the scoreboard first. In the bottom of the first inning, Santana and Sabol led off with back-to-back singles. After a sacrifice bunt by Evans, Santana scored the game's first run on a Dailey sacrifice fly, his sixth RBI of the day.
 
SVC added a second tally in the bottom of the second. With one out, Jeremy Kruezweiser doubled to the gap in right center and advanced to third after Rudzinski reached on an error. Ben Menarchek then cracked a grounder to the left side, with Rudzinski beating the throw at second and Kruezweiser crossing home to make it 2-0. A walk by Santana loaded the bases with one out, but Grove City pitcher Elijah White escaped the jam by inducing a pair of pop ups to end the inning.
 
The Wolverines loaded the bases with one out in the top of the third, but SVC starter Tom Bash limited the damage, allowing only one run on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead in half. Grove City would then knot the game at 2-all on a solo home run in the fourth on an opposite-field home run by Kaz Hoffman,
 
Saint Vincent regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Santana singled through the left side, before stealing second base and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Sabol then followed with an RBI single through the left side to make it 3-2.
 
The Bearcats doubled their lead an inning later. Dailey beat out an infield single to open the frame and advanced to second on the subsequent errant throw. A ground ball from Saiani moved Dailey to second, before another grounder, this one from Wright, scored Dailey to up the advantage to 4-2.
 
Grove City answered right back in the visiting half of the sixth, with Noah Cyphert hitting the Wolverines' second solo home run of the evening to pull to within one, 4-3.
 
Summoned to the mound from second base for the second time on the day, Evans coolly pitched out of a hairy situation in the top of the seventh to preserve the one-run lead, leaving the bases loaded after inducing an inning-ending groundout to Malone at first.
 
The Bearcats added an insurance run to make it 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh, when Evans, who reached on a fielder's choice, raced home on a fielder's choice.
 
Evans would then pitch around a leadoff single in a scoreless eighth, before quickly retiring the Wolverines in order in the top of the ninth to close out the win for his second save of the day and seventh of the season, tying the team's single-season record.
 
Sabol again paced the Saint Vincent offense, going 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Santana went 2-for-4 and scored two runs and Dailey 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored.
 
Bash earned the win on the mound to improve to 7-1, allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in six innings of work. Elijah White started and took the loss for the Wolverines, working 3.2 innings and allowing three runs on five hits.

The Wolverines end the season with a 28-10 record.

The Bearcats will now face Washington & Jefferson in Saturday's championship, looking to avenge a 7-1 defeat to the Presidents in Thursday's tournament opener. To win the PAC title, SVC must defeat the Presidents twice, as they are 2-0 in the tournament, following up Thursday's win over SVC with a 1-0 defeat of Grove City on Friday. The winner of Saturday's series will automatically qualify for the NCAA Division III Regionals.