LA PLUME – In a tightly-contested affair, the Wilkes baseball team fell to Keystone College in their non-conference matchup 4-3 on Thursday afternoon at Christy Mathewson Field.
 
The Colonels dropped to 19-9 overall while the Giants improved their record to 21-10.
 
After Wilkes went down in order to start the ballgame, Tegan Shortlidge (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick) took the mound for his sixth appearance of the season. The right-hander quickly put away the first two batters he faced before stranding a runner on first thanks to a pop-up to Matthew Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) at shortstop.
 
Mike Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) led off the second inning and reached on an error by Keystone's third baseman. He promptly stole second base to get into scoring position, then took off for third base. Mi. Show's second steal of the inning caused the Giants' defense to commit an error, allowing him to cruise home and open up a 1-0 lead for Wilkes.
 
Shortlidge continued his strong start in his second and third innings of work, pitching his way to a pair of 1-2-3 innings.
 
After Keystone put runners on first and second to start off the bottom half of the fourth, both advanced 90 feet on a groundout to second baseman Nate Loch. The lead runner would score on error, then the fifth batter of the inning grounded out to Shortlidge on the mound but not before another run crossed the plate. After four innings, the Giants had taken over a 2-1 lead.
 
A double to left field in the bottom of the fifth proved costly as the runner would come around to score on a single to left field, building Keystone's lead to 3-1.
 
Zachary Lloyd (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) came on in relief of Shortlidge in the sixth and recovered from walking back-to-back batters by picking a runner off at first before fanning the Giant at the plate for the final out of the inning.
 
Jimmy Brazofsky (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) gave the Colonels' bats some life in the bottom of the seventh frame when he hit a towering double over the center fielder's head. The designated hitter Devin Markert (Pittston, PA/Pittston Area) stepped up to the plate next and ripped a single that scored Brazofsky from second base to cut the deficit to one run. An errant pickoff attempt that sailed past the first baseman allowed Ryan Cosby (Buford, GA/Mountain View (GA)), who pinch-ran for Market,  to make his way to third base. Left fielder Connor Morgan (Lehman, PA/Lake Lehman) worked a walk to put runners on the corners for the Blue and Gold. Morgan got himself into a pickle between first and second base, buying Cosby the time to steal home and tie the game at 3-3.
 
Todd Kolbicka (Hanover Twp., PA/Hanover) took over for Lloyd in the seventh for his first appearance on the bump since April of 2022. The righty gave up a leadoff single and an RBI double that gave Keystone a 4-3 advantage. Kolbicka settled in and fielded two ground balls; the first being a clean 1-3 putout before turning a 1-2-3 double play to end the inning without further damage.
 
After the Colonels went down in order in the top of the eighth, Ryan Sanderson (West Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell) returned the favor with two groundouts and a strikeout looking to quickly get Wilkes back up to bat for their final ups.
 
Morgan laced a single into left field and was pinch-run for by Jacob Cambria (Elysburg, PA/Southern Columbia), who stole second to put the tying run in scoring position. That was all the visitors were able to muster, as a strikeout looking ended the threat and sealed Keystone's 4-3 victory.
 
Shortlidge was charged with the loss after giving up three runs on four hits to fall to 0-2 on the season. Chase Vrabel (Gibsonia, PA/Pine Richland), Brazofsky, Markert, Morgan and Ma. Show accounted for the Colonels' five hits with one apiece.
 
Ryan Oka picked up his first decision of the season to move to 1-0 after striking out three batters and only allowing two hits through 2.2 relief innings. Nick Grave recorded his fourth save of the year, also striking out three Colonels. Sean Mindas and Miguel Silfa both hit doubles while Darren Hagan collected a pair of base hits on the day.
 
The Colonels continue their stretch of road games this weekend when they visit Elizabethtown College. The three-game Landmark Conference series against the Blue Jays begins with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 20 with first pitch in game one set for 12:00 p.m.