Game One
Game Two

The Wilkes University baseball team hosted a double-header against DeSales on Saturday at Artillery Park, and after 14 innings of baseball had two more loses, falling 16-3 and 13-7 to the Bulldogs. 

Ryan Fetterman (Endicott, NY/Maine Endwell ) was on the mound for the Colonels to start game one, walking two Bulldogs in the first inning, but settling down and retiring three batters before DeSales could drive anyone home. In the bottom of the frame the Colonels went down in order, and after one neither team had manufactured a run. 

The Bulldogs got their leadoff man on in the second, but Fetterman retired the next three batters in order, defusing the threat. In the bottom of the second, Randy Dengler (Ashland, Pa./Tri-Valley ) was hit by a pitch to get the leadoff batter on for the Colonels. After reaching second base, Angus Neary (Old Forge/Riverside) drilled a single to center field, scoring Dengler and giving Wilkes an early lead. 

A costly error in the third lead to three base runners for the Bulldogs with no one out, but a big double-play by the Colonels, plus a Fetterman strikeout eliminated the DeSales surge. In the top of the fourth, a two-run home run by the Bulldogs gave them their first lead of the game, 2-1. Wilkes had two runners on in the bottom of the frame, and Scott Skammer (Dallas, PA/Dallas) delivered a two-run double to left center field, giving the Colonels a 3-2 lead. 

In the top of the fifth, DeSales got its first two batters on base and then hit a three-run homerun to left field, regaining the lead, 5-3. The Bulldogs then hit a single, and homered again to take a commanding 7-3 advantage. After tacking on two more runs, another two-run homerun, followed up by an in-the-park homer, made the score 12-3. 

Wilkes was never able to regroup after the big fifth for the Bulldogs, who added two more runs in the sixth inning, and two more in the seventh, cruising to a 16-3 victory. 

The lone bright spot for the Colonels was Skammer, who was one-for-two at the plate and knocked in two RBI's. Fetterman received his first loss of the year in the contest. 

The Bulldogs pounded out 17 hits in the game, including five home runs and 10 runs in the fifth inning.
The Colonels had a chance to redeem themselves in game two though, throwing sophomore Sean Flecknoe (Wilkes-Barre, PA/G.A.R.) in his third appearance of the season. 

The game began where the last one left off, as the first two batters for DeSales reached base via walks, and the next batter has hit by a pitch. Flecknoe then settled in, striking out the next two batters and getting the next hitter to ground out, avoiding the potential big inning and allowing no runs to cross home plate. 

In the bottom of the frame Wilkes took advantage of an early DeSales error, as Joel Watson (Honesdale, PA/Honesdale) hit into a fielder's choice, scoring Mike McAndrew (Avoca, Pa./Pittston Area) from third. Angus Neary (Old Forge/Riverside) then drove in Watson from third, and then Tom Buckler (Plains, Pa./Coughlin) came up, sacrificing in Dengler from third, giving Wilkes an early 3-0 lead. 

DeSales answered in the second in the form of a two-run homerun, narrowing the Colonel lead to one run. The Bulldogs tacked on another run in the third, tying the game up at three a piece. 

In the fourth, DeSales added another run on a triple to right field, taking the lead for the first time in the contest. The Bulldogs then knocked in the runner on third with a single to center, and another on a double to the same spot, taking a 6-3 lead. Wilkes answered in the bottom of the inning, as Tom Buckler (Plains, Pa./Coughlin) scored on a John Florance (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Forks) sacrifice fly to center field, narrowing the deficit to two. 

DeSales got that run and more back in the next inning, scoring three more runs and pushing its lead to five. In the bottom of the sixth Buckler knocked in Neary from third to bring the deficit to four, then Rich Cosgrove (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Myers H.S.) drove a ball way over the left field fence, making the score 9-7 and forcing a pitching change from DeSales. 

But once again, in the seventh, DeSales was able to pull away, as a bases loaded single to left scored two runs, then a single to right scored two more, making the score 13-7 going into the bottom of the frame. In its last opportunity to tie or take the lead, Wilkes could only get two runners on before making the final out, making the final score 13-7. 

Wilkes had just six hits in the contest, while the Bulldogs rattled off 13 hits and worked around three errors. 

The Colonels will have a chance to turn things around on Wednesday, March 24 when they take on Marywood away from home. That game will begin at 3:30 p.m.