Box Score

The Wilkes University baseball team hosted Eastern on Friday in the first of three games the two teams would be playing this weekend. It was an up and down game for the Colonels, who ended up on the short end of the stick, falling 21-8.

Tom Buckler (Plains, Pa./Coughlin) got the start for Wilkes, and the Eagles wasted no time getting on the board, as a costly error by the Colonels allowed a run to score in the top of the first. Eastern tacked on another run in the second on a hit-and-run, but Wilkes answered in the bottom of the frame in the form of a Matt Ruch (Dallas, Pa./Holy Redeemer ) solo home run. The Colonels then loaded the bases, and a walk by Scott Skammer (Dallas, PA/Dallas) platted Al Clocker (Swoyersville/Wyoming Valley West), tying the game at two a piece after two innings played.

In the third Eastern exploded, recording four hits and scoring three runners to retake the lead, 5-2. In the fourth the Eagles really opened the game up, scoring five more runs and taking advantage of another Wilkes error.

Wilkes came around in the seventh inning, scoring two runs on a Joe Dantas (Reading, Pa./Fleetwood) double to right center. Soon after, a Ben Caiola (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) singled to left, scoring Dantas from second and making the score 10-5. Justin Fortin (Stroudsburg/Stroudsburg) then came up for Wilkes, hitting a three-run home run to left center and bringing Wilkes right back into the contest.

In the eighth the Eagles once again extended their lead, as Wilkes committed two more errors and Eastern scored five runs in the frame. Wilkes never recovered in the ninth, falling by a score of 21-8.

Tom Plessl (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland ) had three doubles for the Colonels, while Dantas knocked in two runners and Fortin had three RBI's.

Wilkes will now head to St. David's, Pa. to take on the Eagles in a double-header on Saturday, April 24. The first game will begin at 1:00 p.m.