EDWARDSVILLE – In what could easily be considered the game of the year, Wilkes baseball batted around the order and put 11 runs on the board in the eighth inning to complete a massive comeback over Catholic University in the final game of their Landmark Conference series Sunday afternoon at Bruggeworth Field.
 
The Colonels improved to 19-7 on the campaign and stand at 10-5 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Cardinals fell to 20-8 overall and 10-5 in the Landmark.
 
First-year Wilton Abreu (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Liceo Americo Pérez Tolentino) took the mound for Wilkes and allowed a pair of runs in the first as Catholic jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.
 
The Colonels answered right back in the bottom of the frame, with Nathan Loch (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley) and Luke Spencer (Lehman, PA/Lake Lehman) both reaching safely on a walk and hit-by-pitch respectively. The runners moved up 90 feet on a passed ball during Chase Vrabel's (Gibsonia, PA/Pine Richland) at-bat, putting them both in scoring position. Vrabel struck out swinging, however a dropped third-strike from the Cardinals' catcher allowed him to reach first while Loch came home to score. Zack Luksic (Shavertown, PA/Dallas) stepped up to the plate and singled up the middle to drive in Spencer and tie the game at 2-2.
 
Catholic reclaimed a 3-2 lead in the second after a sacrifice fly to center field gave a runner the time to tag up and score from third. Ryan Sanderson (West Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell), who relieved Abreu in the second, pitched a 1-2-3 third with back-to-back groundouts to Loch at second and one more to Spencer at third. He retired the side again in the fourth, recording the final out by fielding a ground ball and tossing the runner out at first.
 
The Cardinals enjoyed a three-run fifth inning thanks to an RBI single that knocked in a run from third and a two-run home run over the right field fence. The visitors' eventful inning gave them a 6-2 lead.
 
Catholic's starting pitcher continued to frustrate the bats of the Blue and Gold in the bottom of the inning, as Cody Bosak sent Wilkes down in order for the fourth consecutive time.
 
After a six-pitch strikeout kicked off the top of the sixth, Sanderson got two more outs by way of a groundout to third and pop-up to second.
 
Mike Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) injected some life into the Colonels' offense in the sixth with a single through the left side of the infield. Although he put himself in scoring position by stealing second, Wilkes was unable to capitalize as the score remained 6-2 in favor of Catholic.
 
Evan Melberger (West Pittston, PA/Wyoming Area) took the mound for the seventh and kept the Cardinals off the board by fanning one batter and getting two more to flyout and groundout.
 
Wilkes threatened once again in the seventh with a leadoff single by Jimmy Brazofsky (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) and a walk by Max Alessi (Wallenpaupack, PA/Wallenpaupack), however the Cardinals were successful in keeping the offense at bay to preserve their lead.
 
Following a leadoff double to left, Melberger settled in and recorded the first two outs of the eighth before Ethan Jezewski (Millerstown, PA/Greenwood) came in for his seventh appearance of the season. It only took the righty first-year two pitches to retire the third batter with a groundout to second base, negating the double.
 
What followed in the bottom half of the inning was nothing short of a masterclass performance by the Colonels at the plate. Spencer and Mi. Show both worked walks to put two runners on base for Luksic. The designated hitter reached on a single that squeaked through the infield to score Spencer. The throw from the outfield was off-target and rolled into the Cardinals dugout to score Mi. Show and advance Luksic all the way to third base. Up next, Brazofsky grounded out to short, allowing Luksic to hustle the final 90 feet home to make the score 6-5. Alessi stepped up to the plate and tripled to deep right center before Jacob Cambria (Elysburg, PA/Southern Columbia) tripled to almost exactly the same spot in the next at-bat to tie the game at six. Matthew Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) then reached base on a throwing error by the Cardinals third baseman to bring home Cambria and give Wilkes their first lead of the afternoon, 7-6. Loch and Spencer ripped back-to-back singles as the Colonels built their lead up to a pair of runs. Up next, Vrabel doubled to left field while Spencer and Loch both came around to score the home team's ninth and tenth runs of the ballgame. The scoring carousel continued when Mi. Show reached on a fielding error and Vrabel scored from second base. Brazofsky kept the scoring coming with a single to left that scored Luksic, who had walked on the previous at-bat. When all was said and done, the Colonels batted through the order and then some, while scoring 11 runs to take an astounding 13-6 lead into the ninth.
 
Mi. Show came in to pitch from center field and shut down the Cardinals to secure the comeback victory.
 
Despite only throwing two pitches, Jezewski picked up his first collegiate victory by recording the final out of the eighth inning. Spencer went 3-3 at the plate with one RBI while Luksic and Brazofksy shared the team lead with three RBIs apiece. As an offensive unit, the Colonels put up 13 runs on ten hits.
 
Brendan Martin was charged with the loss, falling to 0-2 on the season. Sammy Burman accounted for three of the Cardinal's RBIs, due in-part to his 5th inning homer.
 
The Colonels hit the road on Tuesday, April 16 when they pay their second visit of the season to the University of Scranton for another Landmark showdown. First pitch against the Royals is slated for 4:30 p.m.