CENTER VALLEY, PA – The Wilkes University Colonels softball program returned from their Spring Break trip with a pair of games against Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom rival DeSales Friday evening.
 
The Colonels (4-4, 0-2 MACF) dropped game one 2-1 after late runs from the Bulldogs (6-7, 2-0), before the DeSales offense got the jump on the Navy and Gold in a 7-2 game two to drop their first two conference matchups of the season.
 
The Navy and Gold started the scoring on the evening in the second inning of game one, taking advantage of a DeSales wild pitch to go up 1-0.  Rhia Aurand (Avondale, PA/Avon Grove) pitched five innings of one run ball, only allowing an RBI single in the fifth inning.  DeSales walked off the game with a home run in the bottom of the seventh to take the victory.  Rachel Pritchard (Wilmington, DE/Concord) earned the loss, while Heather Hall earned a complete game one-run victory.
 
The Colonels found the first run of game 2 in the second inning, with Jessie Smith (Millersville, MD/Severna Park) hitting a solo home run.  The Bulldogs bats came to life, scoring five runs in the next three innings combined.  The Navy and Gold couldn't overcome the deficit, though Haylee Calaman (Elizabethtown, PA/Elizabethtown Area) hit a RBI double to center field.  DeSales would add more in the sixth to settle the final tally at 7-2.    
 
Nicole Howell (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock Area) and Nicole O'Rourke (Staten Island, NY/Susan E Wagner) both hit three-of-five on the evening.  DeSales outhit the Colonels 20-15 between both games.  Smith's home run in game two was her first as a Colonel, and she had a run in both games for the Navy and Gold.
 
The Navy and Gold start their home-slate and a eight-game homestand with a doubleheader against Keystone College next Wednesday.  First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in a series the Colonels lead 9-3 in the live stats era.