Five-Run First Propels Wilkes Baseball to Victory over Misericordia
SCRANTON, PA – A bases clearing triple by Nick Pronti (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Wood-Ridge) in the bottom of the first inning gave the Wilkes University baseball team a 5-0 lead and that was all they needed as they defeated Misericordia 11-3 on Sunday afternoon in a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom contest.
The win improves the Colonels to 3-9 overall and 1-2 in the MAC Freedom while dropping the Cougars, who were receiving votes in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 poll, to 10-6 (2-1 MAC Freedom).
After keeping Misericordia off the board in the top half of the inning, Wilkes quickly loaded the bases thanks to a pair of walks and a hit by pitch. With one out, Bryan Nifenecker (Amityville, NY/St. Dominic) singled to center field to plate Jack Fischer (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) and move everybody up one base. Brady Wing (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) followed with a single to right field to bring home Nicholas Capozzi (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) and set the stage for Pronti. The shortshop delivered the big blow as he sent one into the right center field gap, clearing the bases while gliding into third with a stand up triple.
The Cougars made a pitching change and retired the next two batters to the head to the second inning trailing 5-0.
A pair of hit by pitches helped Misericordia get one back in the second as a one-out single down the left field line scored one for the visitors but a line out to Pronti who flipped it to Fischer at second base for the double play got the Colonels out of the frame 5-1.
Misericordia kept Wilkes off the board in the bottom half and cut into the deficit with two more runs in the top of the third thanks to a sacrifice fly and an RBI (run batted in) single to make it 5-3 Colonels.
Wilkes took back the momentum in the bottom of the fifth when Matt Reinert (Telford, PA/Souderton) singled to center field with the bases loaded to plate two runs for the navy and gold and extend the lead to 8-3.
Charles Giacometti Jr. (Dallas, PA/Dallas) led off the bottom of the sixth inning by lining one over the head of the Misericordia center fielder for a triple. Nifenecker followed with a productive groundout to short to plate Giacometti Jr. and the Colonels would tack on another when Reinert flipped one into center field, allowing Pronti to come around to score from second and open up a 10-3 Wilkes lead.
A Fischer sacrifice fly in the eighth inning brought home Vinny Bobbin (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Blue Mountain) for the Colonels final run of the contest on their way to an 11-3 victory.
Gage Coudriet (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) picked up the win in relief for the Colonels as he threw five innings of three-hit ball while allowing just one run.
Reinert had a three-hit day for the navy and gold (3-5) and matched Pronti with a team leading three RBIs. Wing, Pronti and Bobbin each had a pair of hits for the Colonels who finished with 12 on the day.
Wilkes returns to the diamond on Wednesday, March 20th when it welcomes Muhlenberg to Artillery Park for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch.
