KINGSTON – The Wilkes University baseball team got a solid effort on both sides of the ball in Thursday afternoon, defeating the Delaware Valley University Aggies 8-1 in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom action.

The Colonels are now 7-16 overall, 2-8 in conference play.

Wilkes got on the board in the bottom of the third with two runs on three hits with one walk. Sophomore Brady Wing (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) started the rally with a one-out single up the middle and was moved to second on a single from junior Joe Champi (Dupont, PA/Pittston). Both runners moved up a base when sophomore Jack Fischer (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) walked, and both Wing and Champi came in to break the scoreless tie when senior Joshua Slocum (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) laced a single into center field to put the Colonels up 2-0.

Wilkes added on in the bottom of the fourth with one run on two hits. Sophomore Keaton Allison (Aiken, SC/Aiken) reached on a one-out single and following a flyout came around to score on a triple from Wing.

The Colonels pushed their lead to 4-0 in the fifth when Fischer led off with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a single from Slocum, and came in to score on senior James Brown (Covington, PA/North Pocono)'s sacrifice fly to left field, and added their fifth run when Slocum walked with the bases loaded to bring home senior Tanner Smith (Upper Black Eddy, PA/Palisades).

Delaware Valley got on the board in the top of the seventh with one run on two hits to cut the lead to 5-1.

Wilkes responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the seventh on one hit. Junior Jarret Clymer (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) led off with a walk and moved to third on a single from senior Alex Kramer (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East), coming into score when the ball got past the right fielder to make the score 6-1.

The Colonels finished their scoring in the bottom of the eighth with two runs on one hit and two errors. Fischer started the rally with a walk and stole second, with the throw from the catcher getting far enough away that Fischer was able to come in and score. After a dropped foul ball, Slocum was hit by a pitch and pinch run for by sophomore Ramon Bazan (Reading, PA/Reading), who stole second and came into score on an RBI single from Brown.

Senior Chris Nixon (Swoyersville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) improved to 3-2 this season, throwing six innings and surrendering just one hit with one walk and eight strikeouts. Sophomore Nick Poyer, senior Matt Kaster (Traben-Trabach, Germany/Crestwood), freshman Jeremy Yziek, and freshman Matt Amaral (Taylor, PA/Riverside) finished the game for Wilkes.

Wing (2-for-4, one run scored, one RBI), and Slocum (2-for-3, three RBI's), led the Colonels at the plate.

Wilkes returns to the field tomorrow when they travel to Delaware Valley for a 12:00 p.m. MAC Freedom doubleheader.