After starting the Presidents’ Athletic Conference season 3-0 and atop the conference standings, the Waynesburg University baseball team was brought down to earth Tuesday against Washington & Jefferson, losing both ends of a double header.

The Jackets fell to the now first-place Presidents 8-4 and 8-2 respectively.

In game one, junior Mason Miller suffered his first loss of the season despite striking out eight Presidents in 4 2/3 innings.

“It’s always either [W&J] is just that good or if I could have been better,” Miller said. “I’ve never been hypercritical of myself, but I don’t think I was as strong as I could have been.”

Miller was pulled in the fifth for senior Nate Gearhart, who allowed a pair of runs.

A lack of offense plagued the Jackets in the nightcap. Waynesburg didn’t get its first hit until the bottom of the sixth when senior Mitch Nordstrom singled.

Reis believes Waynesburg’s next series against the Bethany Bison provides the team a chance to regroup from Tuesday’s disappointing result.

“I have enough confidence in the team to make the adjustments coming up into the next series,” Reis said.

Compared to W&J, Bethany is, on paper, a much more manageable opponent. The Yellow Jackets have won six of their last eight games against the Bison, but haven’t swept Bethany since 2016.

Last year, Reis lit up Bethany smashing a pair of home runs and driving in six RBIs.

“I went into every at-bat knowing that I was better than the pitcher and the work that I put in was going to put me over the top,” Reis said. “I’ve been struggling with that this year.”

Reis, a Second-Team All-PAC selection last season, is hitting.314 through the first 19 games, but has only one home run. In the past, Reis has been known for his power, hitting double digit homeruns in 2017 and ’18.

With Reis struggling to hit the long ball, younger players, such as freshman catcher Tyler Woodrow, have stepped up.

“We have shown a lot of flashes of potential,” Reis said. “There have been some young guys that have gotten hot that everybody feeds off of. It builds more confidence in all of our teammates knowing that they will get the job done.”

Woodrow leads the team in batting average (.390), slugging percentage (.683), runs batted in (14) and home runs (3).

Classmate Luke Winterbottom drove in what were the game-winning runs in the come-from-behind, 10-6 victory over Geneva in the second end of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Bethany, however, boasts one of the top records in the PAC to begin the season. After years of hovering in the bottom half of the PAC, the Bison have relied on pitching. They have the second lowest earned run average (4.01) trailing only behind Saint Vincent.

Both Miller and Reis acknowledged Bethany’s success to start the season. The first pitch of

Bethany recently took on St. Vincent Wednesday afternoon in a doubleheader. Friday’s game is scheduled for 3:00.