EDWARDSVILLE – The Wilkes University softball team used the long ball in a 14-7 game one win before some timely hitting in a 4-3 victory in game two on way to a sweep of visiting Keystone College Wednesday afternoon at the Ralston Athletic Complex.
 
The Colonels improved their overall record to 8-7 following the pair of non-league victories. Keystone dropped to 4-6 overall after the two road defeats.
 
Game one saw the two teams combine for 26 hits and three home runs as the bats did most of the talking throughout. After Keystone took an early 3-0 lead after a three-run home run in its first at-bats, Haley Welker (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) put Wilkes on the board in the bottom half of the first frame when she hit a fly ball that scored Caylee-Mae Williams (Yuba City, CA/River Valley) on the play.
 
Wilkes tied the game at 3 in the bottom of the third using a pair of RBI singles from Sarah Gibson (Chico, CA/Pleasant Valley) and Britny Jumalon (Torrance, CA/Torrance). Keystone answered with three runs of their own in the fifth to take back the lead up 6-3 heading into the bottom of the frame.
 
The fifth proved to be the difference in the game for Wilkes as the Colonels scored seven runs thanks to a pair of home runs, a solo shot from Gab Giordano (Moscow, PA/Holy Cross) and a three-run bomb from Welker, to take a 10-6 advantage. Wilkes also used a pair of fielding errors by Keystone to score the final three runs of the inning.
 
Keystone added a single run in the top of the sixth before four more Colonel runs in the bottom half of the inning put the game out of reach. Erin Cabry's (York, PA/Central York) bunt single scored Celine Podlesney (Hazle Twp., PA/Hazleton) followed by an RBI groundout from Jordyn Kondras (Willow Street, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) that scored Jumalon. Jaime Martin (Bridgeton, NJ/Cumberland Regional) finished off the Wilkes scoring with a two-run double down the left field line scoring Cabry and Caitlin Brown (Glen Cove, NY/Glen Cove).
 
Jumalon led all hitters in game one going 3-for-3 with one RBI. Gibson, Brown and Giordano each added two hits combining for two RBI's. With her first hit of the game, Brown reached the 100^th hit plateau for her career. Welker finished with four RBI's, including the three-run home run.
 
Podlesney entered in relief of starter Rhiannon Aurand (Avondale, PA/Avon Grove) in the fifth inning pitching the final three frames allowing just three hits and one run to record the victory in the circle.
 
In game two, Wilkes took a 1-0 lead after its first at-bats. After Gibson walked with one out, Gracen Staunton (Kernersville, NC/Northwest Guilford) singled up the middle moving Gibson to third on the play. Staunton then stole second and a throwing error by the catcher allowed Gibson to score easily from third.
 
Keystone answered back taking a 3-1 lead in the third inning as back-to-back home runs, the first being a two-run shot, provided all the damage at the plate.
 
Wilkes cut into the lead in the bottom of the fourth scoring one run. Brown walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jessie Smith (Millersville, MD/Severna Park) singled to right field moving Brown to third before she scored on a Kondras groundout to second.
 
Jumalon came through with the timely hit of the game in the bottom of the fifth as she tripled down the right field line scoring Gibson and Staunton who each singled earlier in the inning giving the Colonels a 4-3 advantage they would not relinquish.
 
Staunton led the bats in game two going 3-for-3 at the plate. Gibson and Smith followed with two hits each.
 
Staunton also picked up the win in the circle pitching all seven innings allowing nine hits and three runs while striking out a season-high ten batters.
 
Wilkes is back in action Saturday hosting Eastern University in a MAC Freedom doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m. at the Ralston Athletic Complex.