KINGSTON, PA – The Wilkes University baseball team scored nine runs in the first inning and five more in the second on its way to a 16-2 victory at Artillery Park against Penn State Wilkes-Barre in a non-conference contest Tuesday afternoon.

Five players had two or more RBI's for the Colonels as Wilkes improved its record to 11-10 overall after the victory. Penn State Wilkes-Barre fell to 4-2 overall.

Francis Navatta (Branchburg, NJ/Somerville) retired the Mountain Lions in order to start the game and the Wilkes offense wasted little time giving the starter run support as the Colonels sent 14 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first and scored nine runs (eight earned) on six hits, four walks, and one error.

Michael Patrizio (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) led off with a single and scored on Jack Fischer (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley)'s double to deep right field. Jarret Clymer (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) then singled through the left side to bring in Fischer. Nicholas Capozzi (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) then drove one to the fence in the right centerfield gap scoring Clymer and ending up on third with a triple. After Alex Halladay (West Chester, PA/Bayard Rustin) walked Jonah Harder (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) reached on an error by the third baseman and picked up an RBI with Capozzi scoring. Keaton Allison (Aiken, SC/Aiken) walked to load the bases and then Brady Wing (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) also walked to force in Halladay. Patrizio then singled for the second time in the inning picking up an RBI as Harder scored. Fischer then walked to pick up his second RBI of the inning as Allison was forced in. Joe Champi (Dupont, PA/Pittston) followed with a two-run single to right that scored Wing and Patrizio and put the Colonels ahead 9-0 before Penn State Wilkes-Barre could record the second out.

Wilkes added five runs on six hits in the bottom of the second inning to go ahead 14-0. Halladay walked to lead off the inning and moved to third on a double by Harder. Allison then drove in Halladay with a sacrifice fly to right field. Wing followed with a base hit to center that plated Harder. Wing then moved ahead to third on a single by Fisher and scored on Champi's double to left center. Clymer then followed with an RBI infield single to third and Capozzi doubled down the left field line to score Champi to cap the scoring rally.

The Mountain Lions struck for two runs on two hits and two walks in the top of the third inning. Eric Adamczyk picked up an RBI fielder's choice and David Staskiel knocked an RBI single to left field.

The Colonels added their final two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jared Angerman (Northampton, PA/Northampton Area) walked with one out to give Wilkes its first baserunner of the inning. After Vincent Uzzi (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham-Wading River) walked, Bryan Nifenecker (Amityville, NY/St. Dominic) picked up an RBI single to center to score Angerman from second. Halladay followed with an RBI knock to right field that brought Uzzi across the plate.

Navatta (2-1) picked up the win going the first five innings allowing two earned runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Noah Durnin (Bath, PA/Northampton) struck out the side in the sixth inning after walking the first two batters. Zach Metz (Quakertown, PA/Quakertown) worked a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts and Zach Adamchick (Bloomsburg, PA/Bloomsburg) struck out one in a perfect eighth inning. The four Colonels pitcher struck out 11 total batters in the game.

Champi led the way with three RBI's on a 2-for-3 day at the plate. Fischer (2-for-2), Clymer (2-for-3), Capozzi (2-for-3), and Wing (1-for-3) all had two RBI games. Patrizio went 2-for-3 with one RBI, Nifenecker was 1-for-2 with one RBI, Halladay was 1-for-2 with one RBI and two walks, and Harder was 1-for-4 with one RBI and two runs.

The Colonels put their current four-game winning streak on the line when they hit the road to begin a three-game Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom series against Manhattanville College on Friday. First pitch in Purchase, N.Y. is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.