WILKES-BARRE – The fifth seeded Wilkes University baseball team is set to face fourth-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology in the 2023 Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) Baseball Championship 4/5 Play In game on Thursday at Dobbelaar Baseball Field at the DeBaun Athletic Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in Hoboken, N.J.

Live video and stats are provided by the Stevens Athletic Communications staff at the following links:

Live Video
Live Stats
 
Full 2023 MAC Freedom Baseball Championship information including the schedule of events, bracket, and merchandise details can be found on the MAC Championship Central page.
 
Admission: Stevens Ticket Link
Adults - $5
Senior Citizens - $4
Students (valid ID) & Children - $2
Pre-school (under 6) with Adult - FREE
 
Wilkes finished the 2023 MAC Freedom regular season with an 11-13 record to earn the fifth seed under fifth-year head coach Kevin Gryboski '95. The Colonels were 17-23 overall in the regular season. This marks the third time in the past 14 seasons and ninth overall that the Colonels have made the conference postseason since the conference shifted to the Freedom in 2001.
 
Stevens went 14-10 in the MAC Freedom regular season to earn the No. 4 seed. The Ducks are 26-14 overall.
 
The regular season series between the two teams saw Stevens win two-of-three. On Friday, April 14 the Ducks won 6-3 in Hoboken in the single-nine inning game. On Sunday, April 16 Wilkes won the first game of the doubleheader 3-1 and Stevens won the second game 4-3 at Bruggeworth Field.
 
The Colonels are led at the plate by sophomore Mike Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights). Show has a .336 batting average, 42 hits, 10 doubles, three triples, two home runs, 28 RBI's, 26 runs, and a .411 on-base percentage. Sophomore Todd Kolbicka (Hanover Twp., PA/Hanover) is batting .299 with 38 hits, 25 runs, and a .375 on-base percentage. Senior Jason Spezzaferra (Maywood, NJ/Hackensack) is batting .295 with 31 hits, 11 doubles, 17 RBI's, and a .353 on-base percentage. Senior Darren Kerdesky (Dallas, PA/Dallas) has a .287 average with 39 hits, seven doubles, three triples, one home run, 18 RBI's, 32 runs, and a .393 on-base percentage. Sophomore Chase Vrabel (Gibsonia, PA/Pine Richland) is second on the team with 20 RBI's while adding nine doubles.
 
AJ Brosious (Laurys Station, PA/Allentown Central Catholic), Jake Cambria (Elysburg, PA/Southern Columbia), Zack Luksic (Shavertown, PA/Dallas), Max Alessi (Wallenpaupack, PA/Wallenpaupack), Evan Melberger (West Pittston, PA/Wyoming Area), Connor Morgan (Dallas, PA/Lake Lehman), and Ryan Johnston (Garden City, NY/Chaminade) have also been key contributors to the offense this season.
 
Sophomore Aiden Murphy (Mountain Top, PA/Wyoming Seminary) leads the Colonels starting pitching with his 2.85 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 5-3 record in 10 starts. He has pitched five complete games with one shutout. In 53.2 innings he has 72 strikeouts with just 20 walks and opponents have a .214 batting average. Graduate student Tony Molitoris (Hanover Twp., PA/Holy Redeemer) has a 6.52 ERA across nine starts and 10 total appearances with two complete games. He has pitched 48.2 innings with 34 strikeouts and only eight walks.
 
Sophomore Tegan Shortlidge (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick) is 3-2 with a 3.94 ERA in seven starts this season. He has pitched 29.2 innings with 20 strikeouts and 11 walks. First year Hunter Lawall (West Wyoming, PA/Wyoming Area) is 3-1 with a 5.82 ERA in seven starts and 10 total appearances this season. He has pitched 38.2 innings with 33 strikeouts and 23 walks. First year Griffin Coyne (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) has three starts and 11 total appearances with a 5.12 ERA. In 31.2 innings he has 21 strikeouts and nine walks.
 
Senior Sawyer Kemp (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick) has made 18 relief appearances totaling 29.0 innings. He has a 3-5 record with one save and 5.90 ERA with 29 strikeouts and nine walks. Tyler Hoedl (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Holy Redeemer) has made 14 relief appearances with 18.2 total innings and 19 strikeouts. Show has five saves and a 2-2 record in 11 total relief appearances totaling 12.0 innings with 13 strikeouts.
 
Christian Kreiser leads the Ducks offense with a .373 batting average as he has 47 hits, 15 doubles, six home runs, 36 RBI's, 31 runs, and .506 on-base percentage. Michael Reyes is batting .326 with 45 hits, 32, RBI's, and 36 runs. Jack Irby has a .293 batting average with 27 hits, and 31 RBI's. Chris Davis, Victor Schilleci, Evan Pravato, Colby Ching, Ben Tobio, Frank Tonina, and Zachary Boykin all have made their impact on the offense this season as well for Stevens.
 
Justin Doyle leads the starting pitching for the Ducks as he is 5-5 in 12 starts with a 3.66 ERA. In 66.1 innings he has 65 strikeouts and 20 walks with an opponent's batting average of .203. Erik Sibbach is 6-4 in five starts and 15 total appearances with a 4.71 ERA. He has pitched 42.0 innings with 50 strikeouts and 11 walks. Williams Sotiropoulos is 3-0 in five starts and 11 total appearances with a 3.48 ERA and 33.2 innings. Ryan Shea has four starts and nine appearances with a 4.08 ERA in 28.2 innings with a 4-1 record. Jordan Fisse has five starts and six appearances with a 3.18 ERA in 11.1 total innings. Joshua Casado with five starts and Mark DeCicco with four round out the starters for Stevens.
 
Anthony Pron has made 18 relief appearances with eight saves and a 2-1 record. In 24.1 innings he has 32 strikeouts and 12 walks with a 4.44 ERA. Jacob Buurman had made 14 relief appearances with a 2-1 record, one save, and a 3.32 ERA. Axel Johnson, Matt Villapiano, and Joe Gonzalez all have double digit relief appearances for the Ducks staff as well.
 
As a team Wilkes is batting .273 which is tied for sixth in the MAC Freedom while Stevens is fourth with a .290 team batting average. Wilkes is fifth in the conference with a 5.79 team ERA while Stevens is second with a 4.11 ERA. In fielding percentage Wilkes ranks sixth at .947 and Stevens is third at .971.
 
The winner of the Wilkes and Stevens 4/5 Play-In will advance to face top seed Arcadia University in a Semifinal three-game series on Saturday and Sunday. All games of the MAC Freedom Championship will be nine innings.
 
Second seeded Misericordia University will host No. 3 seed DeSales University in the other Semifinal series on Saturday and Sunday. The three-game series for the Finals will take place on May 12-13 at the highest remaining seed with the MAC Freedom NCAA automatic qualifier to the Division III Tournament on the line.