EDWARDSVILLE, PA – The Wilkes University baseball team wrapped up their three-game series against the King's College Monarchs in a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom affair at Bruggeworth Field on Senior Day Saturday.
 
Perfect weather greeted the two teams as the Colonels (24-15, 10-11 MACF) completed the sweep of the Monarchs (11-22, 3-18) with a 7-3 victory in game one and a 4-1 victory in game two. The game one victory marked the Colonels 1,000th win for the program.
 
Tony Molitoris (Hanover Twp., PA/Holy Redeemer) threw five scoreless innings as part of his game one complete game.  He recroded a career-high 10 strikeouts.  The Colonels built up a 3-0 lead over the course of the first five innings, with a Brandon Reno (Hunlock Creek, PA/Northwest Area) grounder bringing home Michael Patrizio (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) in the first.  Dominick Bayo (Swoyersville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) contributed the next two runs, bringing in Patrizio in the third with a double to left center before hitting a single through the left side to bring home Jason Spezzaferra (Maywood, NJ/Hackensack) in the fifth.
 
The Monarchs struck back in the sixth, a bases-loaded walk bringing in a run before a single to right field made it 3-2 Wilkes.  King's tied it up three-all heading into the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice fly to center field.  The Colonels responded in kind in the bottom of the sixth, a sacrifice grounder from Peyton Schuck (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan Academy) bringing in Mike Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) to make it 4-3.  Spezzaferra hit a no-doubter to left field for a three-run home run.  Molitoris completed his complete game with only four batters in a scoreless top of the seventh to seal the win for the Navy and Gold.
 
A Bayo triple with one out put the Colonels in a threatening position immediately in game two, and a sacrifice fly from Brandon Reno (Hunlock Creek, PA/Northwest Area) brought him home for a 1-0 lead after one inning.  Nick Pronti (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Wood-Ridge) stole second to give the Colonels a runner in scoring position with one out, but the Navy and Gold couldn't take advantage in the bottom of the second.  A double from Patrizio put the Colonels back in a threatening position with an out in the bottom of the third.   A three-run blast into the right field parking lot from Sean Granahan (Pottstown, PA/Wilson West Lawn) put the Colonels ahead 4-0 after three. 
 
A deep double down the left field line followed by a batter hit by pitch gave the Monarchs runners on first and second with one out in the top of the fourth but failed to dent the Colonels 4-0 advantage.  Runners on the corners gave the Colonels another opportunity in the bottom of the fourth with two outs, but an infield pop up cut the opportunity short.  A deep double for King's to start the fifth put them in position to break through the Colonels defense, but a diving catch and precision throw gave the Colonels a double play instead.  A double down the left field line gave the King's another chance with two outs, and a deep single to center made it 4-1 Colonels.  
 
A leadoff double in the top of the sixth put the King's bats in a strong position to strike once more, but a pair of quick grounders and a fly out kept the tally at 4-1.  Sawyer Kemp (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick) came on for the save in the top of the seventh and threw a scoreless inning with only four batters to earn his ninth save of the season, the second-highest season save total in Wilkes baseball history.
 
Gage Coudriet (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) started game two and finished the season 6-0 after earning the victory with only one run over the first six innings. Bayo finished the day hitting four for five with a double, a triple, and two RBIs to his total.  Spezzaferra and Granahan both had a three-run home run in game one and two respectively, with both being the second of their Navy and Gold careers.
 
The Colonels concluded their 2022 season with the three-game series sweep over King's with their 24 wins marking the highest total since the 2009 season.