EDWARDSVILLE, PA – The Wilkes University Colonels baseball squad opened the 2022 season at a partially frozen Bruggeworth Field with a doubleheader against the Rosemont Ravens Sunday afternoon.
 
The Colonels (2-0) found easy sledding against the Ravens (1-4) winning in 16-0 fashion game one, but the Ravens fought hard in game two before the Navy and Gold put together 10 runs in the bottom of the fifth to complete a 15-6 comeback victory that was called due to darkness.
 
Rosemont had opportunity with a man left on second after three outs in the first inning, but left their half of the frame scoreless.  Darren Kerdesky (Dallas, PA/Dallas) mashed a deep double into right field to bring home Nick Pronti (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Wood-Ridge) to leave the Colonels up 1-0 through one.  Rosemont replied with a deep double of their own to lead off the second inning and pushed the runner to third with a sacrifice bunt, before a walk put runners on first and third with one out.  The Colonels left the Ravens scoreless once more after a strikeout and a grounder to the shortstop to end the threat.
 
A deep double from Mike Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) brought in the Colonels second run before a single from Michael Patrizio (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) and Stone Wormuth (Carbondale, PA/Carbondale) made it 4-0 through three with a sacrifice fly.  Kerdesky and AJ Brosious (Laurys Station, PA/Allentown Central Catholic) both struck with two RBI singles in the fourth inning, and Brosious tacked on another RBI single in the fifth.  The Colonels broke the game wide open in the sixth with five RBI walks and another run brought in with a hit by pitch.  Pronti brought in another run with a single in the frame to help the Colonels to their final 16-0 margin.
 
A deep double from Zach Luksic (Dallas, PA/Dallas) started the scoring in the second game for the Colonels in the first inning, before Peyton Schuck (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan Academy) made it home off of a Jason Spezzaferra (Maywood, NJ/Hackensack) single to make it 2-0 in the second.  Patrizio tacked on another in the second with a RBI single.  The Colonels got two more runs on a throwing error to make it 5-0 in the second inning.   The Ravens would find their first two runs of the afternoon in the fourth off of a sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt to cut the advantage to 5-2, then a base hit to right center put the Ravens within 5-3 of the Colonels.  A RBI double put the Ravens within one of the Navy and Gold. 
 
The Ravens followed up that with a quick bottom of the fourth pitching to keep themselves close to the Navy and Gold.  A bases loaded walk tied the game at five all, and the Ravens took the lead at 6-5 with two outs in the top of the fifth.  The Colonels pitching settled down and the Colonels found themselves with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth and an out.   Brosious cleared the bases with a three RBI double to take a 8-6 lead for the Navy and Gold and a wild pitch brought him home to make it 9-6 for the Colonels.  A pair of walks and a single from Rocky DiBernardo (Gainesville, FL/Oak Hall School) made it 13-6, and Brosius tacked one a pair more with a single into the outfield to finalize the score at 15-6 after the game was called due to darkness.
 
Patrizio's two steals in game one pushed him past Tyler Truitt to second on the all-time list for career steals in the Navy and Gold.  Brosious had four RBIs and Kerdesky three in game one, while Brosious tacked on five more in two at-bats in game two.  Brosius finished the day with a .800 (4 for 5) batting average.  First year Aiden Murphy (Mountain Top, PA/Wyoming Seminary) had six strikeouts in nine batters faced in game two in his first action as a Colonel. Tyler Hoedl (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer) earned the win, getting the final two outs of the fifth inning with two strikeouts in his collegiate debut. Gage Coudriet (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) earned the win in game one with three strikeouts in three scoreless innings.
 
The Colonels hit the road for their Spring Break trip with a game against Maritime College this upcoming Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in Fort Pierce, Fl.  This is the first time the Colonels will play against Maritime in the live stats era.