Wilkes Baseball Splits Doubleheader vs. Drew in First Landmark Conference Contests
EDWARDSVILLE – The Wilkes University baseball team piled on 11 runs in the team's first-ever Landmark Conference matchup with Drew University to take Game 1 by a score of 11-5 before falling to the Rangers in the second half of the doubleheader 3-0.
With the split, the Colonels' overall record advanced to 10-2. They opened conference play at 1-1. Meanwhile, Drew moved to 7-4 on the season and also kicked off their conference play with a 1-1 record.
The Rangers got on the board early in the first game as one run crossed the plate in the top of the first thanks to a sacrifice groundout. The Colonels responded in the bottom half of the inning after
Nathan Loch (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley) walked on four pitches and proceeded to steal two bases on the next at-bat.
Mike Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) singled to third, allowing Loch to score and tie the game ast 1-1.
Starting pitcher
Hunter Lawall (West Wyoming, PA/Wyoming Area) returned to the mound in the top of the second and got the first two batters to flyout to right field and ground out to third baseman
Luke Spencer (Lehman, PA/Lake Lehman). After the third batter singled, he was gunned down by catcher
Zack Luksic (Shavertown, PA/Dallas) while attempting to steal second. Lawall continued his solid outing in the third with a strikeout looking followed by two flyouts to center and left field. In the fourth, the right hander once again got a punchout on the leadoff batter followed by a flyout to
Jimmy Brazofsky (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) in right field and a groundout to
Matthew Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) at shortstop.
The majority of Wilkes' runs came in the bottom of the fourth, which started with a double down the left field line by
Chase Vrabel (Gibsonia, PA/Pine Richland). Following a walk by Luksic, Vrabel scored on a throwing error by the Ranger right fielder on a single by
Todd Kolbicka (Hanover Twp., PA/Hanover) to give the Colonels a 2-1 lead. With two runners in scoring position,
Devin Markert (Pittston, PA/Pittston Area) reached first on a fielder's choice that allowed Luksic to score from third. The bases became loaded after Ma. Show was hit by a pitch, setting the stage for Loch to single up the middle which brought in Kolbicka to make the score 4-1. The Wilkes bats weren't done doing damage as Spencer hit a sac-fly to center field that scored Markert from third. Mi. Show proceeded to rake the second double down the left field line of the inning to knock in his brother Ma. Show and give the Blue and Gold a 6-1 lead.
Fresh off a lengthy rest in the dugout, Lawall got back to work in the top of the fifth and pitched three groundouts on four at-bats to get the Colonels off the field in quick fashion. After Drew scored a run by way of a double to left field,
Ryan Sanderson (West Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell) came on in relief of Lawall midway through the top of the sixth. The senior worked himself out of a jam, only allowing one run and stranding three Rangers on the basepaths.
In the bottom of the same inning, Ma. Show was hit by a pitch for the second time in the contest. Following a walk by Spencer, a clutch single up the middle by
Chase Vrabel (Gibsonia, PA/Pine Richland) knocked in both runners to extend the lead to 8-3.
Sanderson returned to the bump in the seventh and after walking the first batter, got the second Ranger to ground into a double play. The visitors threatened with a triple to right, however Sanderson maintained his composure and escaped unharmed after a groundout to third ended the inning.
Drew tacked on two runs in the top of the eighth to make it an 8-5 contest, but the three-run deficit was quickly erased in the bottom half of the frame when Mi. Show singled in Spencer and a double by Luksic drove in Mi. Show and Vrabel to build the lead up to 11-5.
Jacob Cambria (Elysburg, PA/Southern Columbia) closed out the game with a quick three-up, three-down top of the ninth that was punctuated by a punchout to end the game.
Lawall picked up his third win of the season (3-1) after pitching 5.1 innings and only allowing three runs. Mi. Show, Vrabel and Luksic all recorded multi-RBI performances and hit doubles in the process, along with Spencer and Brazofsky.
On the Drew side, Justin Bonito suffered his first loss of the season and fell to 2-1 after allowing five earned runs in 3.2 innings of work. Anthony Hernandez, Nate Miller, Billy Coleman, Thomas Zammitti and Dallas Lorenzetti all drove in runs for the Rangers.
Drew took an early 1-0 lead in game two before starting pitcher
Zachary Lloyd (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) settled in and pitched 7.1 innings without another earned run.
The Wilkes batters hit consistently, however nothing was falling as sharp lineouts kept finding the gloves of the Rangers. Drew's defense was defensively sound and committed no errors through nine innings.
The Rangers tacked on two runs in the top of the eighth to build their lead up to 3-0, which stood as the final score.
Lloyd picked his first loss of the season, falling to 4-1.
Nathan Loch (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley) recorded two of the four hits for the Colonels with Devin Market and Zack Lukisc rounded out the list of Colonels with hits.
The Rangers got 7.0 innings of pitching from Matt Colucci (1-0) who only allowed three hits. Drew's lone RBI came from Nate Miller who racked up three hits himself.
The Colonels are back in action on Sunday, March 16 when they play the rubber game of the three-game set at 12:00 p.m.
