It was interesting while it lasted and being second isn't all that bad.

Washington & Jefferson College center fielder Andy Trettel went 0 for 3 and did not reach base Tuesday as the Presidents lost the first game of a doubleheader, 6-2, to Thomas More.

His inability to reach safely ended a streak of 55 games in which he had reached base. His streak is the second longest in NCAA Division III history, and he was closing in on the record of 60 games set by Salve Regina University's Damian Costantino from April 4, 2001, until March 10, 2003. Salve Regina is in Newport, R.I.

Trettel's streak began April 5 last season when he went 2 for 4 in the first game of a doubleheader against Westminster. During the streak, he hit .351 (67 for 191) with 8 home runs, 53 RBIs, 62 runs, 11 stolen bases, 10 doubles and 3 triples.

He had at least one hit in 43 of the games and in the others he either walked (nine times) or was hit by a pitch (three time).

Trettel's streak almost ended Sunday, when Washington & Jefferson defeated Thiel, 11-1. He went hitless in his first four at-bats, then walked on a 3-1 count in his final trip to the plate.

"I've never heard an eruption like that from a dugout over a walk," W&J coach Jeff Mountain said. "The other team had to be wondering what was going on.

"Obviously, you've got to have some luck to keep a streak like that going ... have a game go extra innings, get an extra at-bat or two in games with a lot of runs. But you've also got to be a pretty good hitter and Andy is that."

A North Allegheny High School graduate, Trettel has a .374 average (37 for 99) going into today's game at La Roche. He has 4 home runs with 33 RBIs, 13 walks and 33 runs scored.

Trettel bats second for the Presidents (20-6) and admits that he has been holding the bat a little tighter since it was recently discovered he had the on-base streak.

"I've tried to stay with the same approach I've always had up there," said Trettel, a junior left-handed hitter, before Tuesday's game "But I've swung at a few balls that were out of the zone."

"Andy has a great knowledge of the strike zone," Mountain said. "He has the ability to take those borderline pitches for balls and that helped him keep the streak alive. He's a pretty good No. 2 hitter and has some power."

Trettel's streak wasn't the only one that ended Tuesday. Before losing to Thomas More, the Presidents had won 20 consecutive games at Ross Memorial Park, their home field.

And the loss snapped a 12-game winning streak, which was the longest in W&J's 120 years of baseball.

However, everything was not doom and gloom that day for the Presidents.

In the second game of the doubleheader W&J managed a 5-4 victory and Trettel went 1 for 3 with a walk. The victory kept the Presidents in first place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference at 10-1.

Geneva College senior pitcher/infielder Phil Shallenberger got plenty of slaps on back Tuesday when Geneva defeated rival Westminster in a doubleheader, 5-4 and 2-1.

In the first game, Shallenberger, from Apollo, hit a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning to drive in the tying and winning runs.

In the second game, he scored to tie the game, 1-1, on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning and then singled in the winning run in the ninth. He also was the winning pitcher in the second game with five scoreless innings of relief.

Pitt-Greensburg pitcher Paul Altmyer was the winner in a 6-5 victory against Penn State Altoona last week and became the Bobcats' career leader in victories. A Moon High School graduate, Altmyer had 17 career wins going into Wednesday's doubleheader against Mount Aloysius College. A senior, Altmyer took a 4-1 season record and 5.88 ERA into Wednesday's action.

Rick Shepas will replace Rudy Marisa as Waynesburg University's athletic director. Marisa announced that he will retire at the end of the school year. Shepas, who had been the athletic director at Washington High School in Massillon, Ohio, before coming to Waynesburg, will remain as the Yellow Jackets' football coach.

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