Late Rally Falls Short as Wilkes Baseball Drops 5-3 Decision to Dominican
FORT PIERCE, Fl. – The Wilkes University baseball team found itself with late life after getting runners to second and third with two outs in the top of the ninth but it was unable to put the runs across as it fell to Dominican University by a 5-3 final in Fort Pierce, Florida on Thursday afternoon.
The Colonels fell to 2-4 on the season.
Dominican opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning with three runs on three hits and three walks to take a 3-0 lead. The Stars added a fourth run in the bottom of the fifth on two walks and a run-scoring single.
The Colonels chipped away in the top of the sixth. Matt Reinert (Telford, PA/Souderton) led off the frame with an infield single and came in to score on Vincent Uzzi's (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham-Wading River) triple over the left fielders head. A double-play ball off the bat of pinch-hitter Bryan Nifenecker (Amityville, NY/St. Dominic) followed to bring in Uzzi with Wilkes' second run to cut the deficit to 4-2.
The Colonels slashed the score to 4-3 in the top of the seventh when Brandon Reno (Hunlock Creek, PA/Northwest Area) brought home Jack Fischer (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) with an RBI single through the right side and advanced to third on an overthrow by the right fielder on the play. Wilkes got to second and third with two outs after Reinert reached on error that moved Reno to third and stole second, but the Colonels were unable to capitalize on the opportunity.
Fischer led off the top of the ninth with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Jorge Gonzalez (Reading, PA/Conrad Weiser). A groundout moved Gonzalez to second, and after a line out Brady Wing (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) singled to left and moved to second on the throw in from the outfield, but a strikeout ended the comeback attempt.
Noah Durnin (Bath, PA/Northampton) fell to 0-1 this season, allowing three runs on four hits with six walks and five strikeouts over 3.2 innings.
Fischer finished 2-for-4 with one run scored, Reno was 2-for-4 with one RBI, and Uzzi was 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI.
The Colonels return to the diamond tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. for a doubleheader against University of Northwestern.
