PURCHASE, NY – Behind a good start from Noah Durnin (Bath, PA/Northampton) and three runs in the first two innings, the Wilkes University baseball team earned a Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) doubleheader split at Manhattanville College Saturday afternoon. Wilkes won game one 6-1 before dropping the second game 12-1.

Wilkes is now 10-13 overall and 5-6 in the MAC Freedom. Manhattanville will take an 11-10 overall record and 7-3 conference mark into tomorrow's series finale at Artillery Park.

The Colonels started game one hot at the plate as Michael Patrizio (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) led off with a bunt single. Jack Fischer (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) then doubled to move Patrizio to third. After the first out was recorded, Patrizio came into score on Nicholas Capozzi's (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) sacrifice fly to right field. Fischer moved to third on the play and then scored on a Charles Giacometti Jr. (Dallas, PA/Dallas) RBI-single to center as Wilkes took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Durnin sent Wilkes right back to the plate after recording three groundouts on the mound in the bottom in the first.

Matt Reinert (Telford, PA/Souderton) singled to shortstop to lead off the second inning and moved to second on Vinny Bobbin's (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Blue Mountain) sacrifice bunt. Brady Wing (Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) then singled to right to score Reinert and make the score 3-0. The run-scoring single was the 100th career hit for Wing.

Wilkes added three more runs on five hits and one Manhattanville error in the top of the sixth inning. Reinert reached on a single and then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Bobbin then doubled to center to bring in Reinert. After Wing was hit by a pitch, Patrizio moved Bobbin to third and Wing to second with a sacrifice bunt. Fischer then hit a 2-run single to left field to bring in Bobbin and Wing to make the score 6-0.

The Valiants got on the board in the bottom of the sixth with one run on three hits but Wilkes was able to get the final outs to win the seven-inning game 6-1.

Durnin improved to 2-2 on the season as the senior went 5.2 innings. He allowed one run on seven hits with one strikeout and no walks. Nolan Ott (Montoursville, PA/Montoursville Area) went 1.0 innings and Zack Metz (Quakertown, PA/Quakertown) recorded the final out for the Colonels in the victory.

Capozzi (3-for-3, one RBI), and Reinert (3-for-4, two runs) recorded six of the Colonels 13 hits. Fischer finished 2-for-5 with two RBI's and one run scored.

Game two started in a similar fashion to game one as Patrizio double and then moved to third on a Fischer single. Capozzi then brought in Patrizio with a sacrifice fly to center field as Wilkes grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

Unfortunately for the Colonels that was the only thing that went similar to game one. Manhattanville would score 12 unanswered runs with one in the first, five in the third, and six in the fifth inning to take game two by a 12-1 final.

JT Hibschman (Millville, NJ/Millville) took his first collegiate loss to drop to 2-1 on the season. He went 2.2 innings allowing six runs on 10 hits. He struck out two and walked two.

Patrizio, Fischer, Alex Halladay (West Chester, PA/Bayard Rustin) and Jonah Harder (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) collected one hit each for the Colonels.

The two teams will decide their three-game series on Sunday with a nine-inning game scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch at Artillery Park.