FT. PIERCE, Fl. – The Wilkes University baseball team scored three runs in the fifth inning and the three runs again in the seventh en route to a 10-4 victory over Hilbert College on Thursday afternoon in Ft. Pierce.

The Colonels are now 5-5 on the season with the victory.

Hilbert got on the board in the top of the second on a single, double and a walk to take a 1-0 lead.

Wilkes responded in its half of the second, as sophomore Joe Champi (Dupont, PA/Pittston) led off with a triple and scored on junior James Brown (Covington, PA/North Pocono)'s single to tie the score at one.

Hilbert did not let that tie stand long, scoring two runs in top of the third on a single, double, and a strikeout in which the runner reached on a passed ball.

The Colonels put runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the third, but were unable to capitalize and the score remained 3-1 Hilbert.

Hilbert pushed across their fourth run in the top of the fourth on a leadoff triple and following single to push its lead to 4-1.

Wilkes began to claw back in the bottom of the fourth, capitalizing on a Hilbert error to push across a run on a Tanner Smith (Upper Black Eddy, PA/Palisades) single to make the score 4-2.

The Colonels took the lead in the bottom of the fifth on four hits and an error. After the first two batters went down swinging, senior Ryan Herbst (East Islip, NY/St. John the Baptist) laced a triple and came home on an error by the second baseman off the bat of sophomore Jarret Clymer (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom). Champi, Brown, and Smith all followed with singles to drive in the next two runs and give Wilkes a 5-4 lead.

The Colonels pushed another three runs across in the bottom of the seventh on five hits and a sac fly. Junior Matthew Reese (Wellsboro, PA/Wellsboro) led off the inning with a double but was caught trying to steal third. Herbst followed with a walk, Clymer singled, Champi singled, Brown hit a sac fly, Smith singled, and junior Alex Kramer (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) singled and was forced out on a fielder's choice to end the inning with the score 8-4 Wilkes.

The Colonels added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth on three hits and an error. Sophomore Michael Wozniack (Plains, PA/James M. Coughlin) led off with a single and was followed by Reese who reached on an error. Clymer doubled, and Brown singled to finish off the Wilkes comeback.

Colonels junior starter Chris Nixon (Swoyersville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) went three innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Freshman Noah Durnin (Bath, PA/Northampton) went 2.1 innings giving up one hit and one walk while striking out five batters to earn his first collegiate win. Junior Forrest Jordan (Sullivan County, PA/Sullivan County) followed with 1.2 scoreless innings and senior Patrick Condo (Dallas, PA/Holy Redeemer) threw a scoreless two innings to finish off the win.

Wilkes was led at the plate by Champi, Brown, and Smith, who each had three hits.

The Colonels return to the field tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. when they face Widener.