Wilkes Baseball Continues Hit Parade in 9-6 Win over Scranton

KINGSTON – The Wilkes University baseball team notched 15 hits in this afternoons 9-6 win over the University of Scranton at Artillery Park on Thursday afternoon.

The Colonels improved to 16-12 on the season with the victory.

Scranton got the scoring going in the top of the second on a double and two groundouts.

Wilkes responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the second. Junior Joshua Slocum (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) led off the inning with a single to right field and advanced to third on a double to left-center by junior Alex Kramer (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East). Freshman Jorge Gonzalez (Reading, PA/Conrad Weiser) followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home Slocum with the tying run.

The Colonels put up five runs in the bottom of the fourth on six hits and a hit-by-pitch. Slocum led off the inning with a single to left and advanced to third on a single by freshman Jack Fischer (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley). Kramer followed with a single to left to drive in Slocum with Fischer advancing to second, and both runners moved up a base on a perfect bunt single by Gonzalez to load the bases with nobody out. Following an infield fly, sophomore Jarret Clymer (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) was hit by a pitch to drive in Fischer, and junior Matthew Reese (Wellsboro, PA/Wellsboro) laced a single into right field to drive in Kramer. After a strikeout, senior Ryan Herbst (East Islip, NY/St. John the Baptist) stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs and ripped a double to left field to drive in Gonzalez and Clymer, giving Wilkes a 6-1 lead.

Scranton responded with five runs of their own in the top of the fifth on four hits, one error, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch to tie the game at six.

The Colonels put the game away in the bottom of the seventh, scoring three runs on three hits and one error. Kramer led off with a double to left field and was pinch-run for by freshman Alex Palmer (Shrewsbury, PA/Susquehanncok). Palmer then advanced to third on an errant pick-off attempt by the Royals pitcher, and came in to score on a wild pitch. Junior James Brown (Covington, PA/North Pocono) hit a one-out single to right field, and moved to second on a single to center by Clymer. Both runners would advance on a double steal, with Brown coming in to score on a sacrifice by Reese. Sophomore Joe Champi (Dupont, PA/Pittston) was intentionally walked next, and ran into a run down, allowing Clymer to score before he was tagged out to end the inning and finish the scoring.

Kramer led Wilkes at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with two doubles, one rbi, and one run scored. Champi (2-4), Herbst (2-5), Slocum (2-5), and Gonzalez (2-3) rounded out the Colonels with multiple hits.

Junior Johnny Jan Jr. (Germantown, MD/Northwest) pitched the first five innings, earning a no-decision after surrendering six runs (five earned) on six hit with two walks while striking out five. Freshman Ramon Bazan (Reading, PA/Reading) pitched the next 1.1 innings giving up zero runs on three hits with two walks. Freshman Noah Durnin (Bath, PA/Northampton) earned his second win of the year after throwing 1.1 innings and givining up one hit while striking out two with senior Patrick Condo (Dallas, PA/Holy Redeemer) earning the save after giving up one hit in the ninth with one strikeout.

Wilkes returns to action tomorrow when it will travel to Manhattanville for a 3:30 p.m. MAC Freedom game.