Elizabethtown Takes Two from Wilkes Baseball
FORT PIERCE, Fl. – The Wilkes University baseball team continued its 2020 spring trip to Florida on Sunday afternoon, facing off with Elizabethtown College; the Blue Jays took both ends of a non-conference doubleheader winning game one 12-1 before securing game two 5-4.
The Colonels fell to 0-3.
Wilkes got on the board in the top of the third in game one when Jonah Harder (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) led off with an infield single, stole second, and came around to score on a two-base error by Elizabethtown's pitcher.
The Blue Jays took the lead in the bottom of the frame with seven runs on eight hits. Elizabethtown added two runs in the fourth and three in the sixth to close the scoring.
Sawyer Kemp (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick) started game one for the Colonels, allowing seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits with one walk and one strikeout over three innings. David Wickiser (Mountain Top, PA/Holy Redeemer) followed with 2.1 innings, surrendering five runs (three earned) on five hits while Zach Adamchick (Bloomsburg, PA/Bloomsburg) tossed the final two-thirds of an inning.
Nick Malatesta (Bloomsburg, PA/Bloomsburg) finished game one 2-for-3 while Harder, Dominick Bayo (Swoyersville, PA/Wyoming Valley West), Stone Warmuth, and Jason Spezzaferra (Maywood, NJ/Hackensack) each had one hit apiece.
In game two, the Blue Jays touched home plate first in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly.
Nick Pronti (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Wood-Ridge) tied the score in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly of his own, bring home Michael Patrizio (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) after Patrizio led off with a single, stole second, and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Bayo.
Elizabethtown retook the lead in the top of the second with two runs.
Vinny Bobbin (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Blue Mountain) cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning to score Vincent Uzzi (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham-Wading River) who lead off with an infield single and advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Darren Kerdesky (Dallas, PA/Dallas).
The Blue Jays increased the lead to 5-2 with two runs in the top of the third.
Pronti came through again in the bottom of the fifth with a single to left bringing home Patrizio once again, who started a rally with a two-out walk and stole second.
Kerdesky finished the scoring in the bottom of the sixth when he reached on an error, moved to second on a single from Bryan Nifenecker (Amityville, NY/St. Dominic), moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Alex Halladay (West Chester, PA/Bayard Rustin), and scored on an error by Elizabethtown's shortstop.
Jack Gordon (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee) opened on the mound for Wilkes, allowing five runs on six hits with three walks over three innings. Jonathan Martens (Mt. Pocono, PA/Scranton Prep) handled the final four innings, allowing zero runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Patrizio, Pronti, Uzzi, Nifenecker, and Bobbin all finished with one hit in game two.
Wilkes returns to the diamond on Monday when it will face Muskingum University for an 11:00 a.m. non-conference contest.
