READING, Pa. – The Wilkes University baseball team traveled to Penn Stats Berks where it fell by a 13-7 final on Wednesday afternoon.

The Colonels fell to 5-10 on the season.

The Nittany Lions jumped out in front scoring three runs on three hits in the bottom of the first.

Wilkes fought back in the top of the second with two runs on two hits and one error. Senior Joshua Slocum (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) led off the inning with a single, moving up two bases on a single from senior Tanner Smith (Upper Black Eddy, PA/Palisades) and an error from the right fielder. After sophomore Jack Fischer (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) walked to load the bases, sophomore Jorge Gonzalez (Reading, PA/Conrad Weiser) moved Smith to third and drove home Slocum with a sacrifice fly. Smith followed by crossing the plate on a double steal attempt.
PSU-Berks added a fourth run in the bottom of the second on one run and two hits. The Nittany Lions added two more runs on one hit and on error in the bottom of the third to take a 6-2 lead.

The Colonels plated two runs in the top of the sixth on three hits. Slocum started the rally with with a one-out single to left center, followed by a single down the right field line from Smith that advanced Slocum to second. After both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch, Gonzalez singled to drive home both runners and cut the deficit to 6-4.

The Nittany Lions doubled their lead with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to push their lead to 8-4 on two hits, and pushed across five runs on three hits in the bottom of the seventh to take a 13-4 lead.

Wilkes finished the scoring in the top of the eighth with three runs on one hit and two errors. Slocum led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch and advanced to second when Smith reached on an error. After a flyout, Gonzalez reached on an error to load the bases before sophomore Nicholas Capozzi (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) singled to right to drive home Slocum and Smith and move Gonzalez to third with Capozzi advancing to second on the throw. After sophomore Alex Palmer (Shrewsbury, PA/Susquehannock) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, freshman Tyler Walther (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) grounded out to score Gonzalez.

Sophomore Noah Durnin (Bath, PA/Northampton) suffered the defeat, surrendering six runs (four earned) on six hits with six walks and two strikeouts in 2.1 innings.

Slocum (3-4, three runs), Smith (3-5, three runs), and Gonzalez (2-3, one run, three RBI's) led the Colonels at the plate.

Wilkes returns to action when it travels to Eastern for a MAC Freedom single game starting at 3:30 p.m.