ELIZABETHTOWN – The Wilkes baseball team suffered an 8-0 setback against Elizabethtown College in game one before falling to the Blue Jays 13-9 in a homer-filled affair in the first two games of their Landmark Conference series at the Kevin Scott Boyd Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
The Colonels' record dropped to 19-11, while the team currently stands at 10-8 in conference play. Elizabethtown jumped to 23-9 overall and 12-5 in Landmark competitions.
 
A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first opened the scoring for ETown, who took a 1-0 lead in game one.
 
Wilkes loaded the bases in the top of the third, however a 4-6-3 double play ended the threat.
 
The Blue Jays held onto their 1-0 lead until the bottom of the fifth, when a double to left center scored two runs and grew the deficit to three. Starting pitcher Hunter Lawall (West Wyoming, PA/Wyoming Area) was able to avoid further damage by getting one batter to pop up to Matthew Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) at shortstop and fanning the next batter he faced.
 
Elizabethtown continued to pile on runs in the sixth, as three more runners crossed the plate to build the home team's lead to six.
 
The Colonels threatened once again in the top of the seventh by loading the bases with one out, but the Blue Jays' pitcher was able to work himself out of the jam to keep Wilkes off the board.
 
An RBI single and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch scored two more runs for ETown in the bottom of the eighth to put the game out of the Blue and Gold's reach. The hosts would ultimately take game one by a score of 8-0.
 
Lawall was charged with the loss, falling to 4-3 on the season after allowing five runs on five hits through 5.0 innings on the mound. Nathan Loch (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley), Luke Spencer (Lehman, PA/Lake Lehman), Mike Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights), Todd Kolbicka (Hanover Twp., PA/Hanover) and Ma. Show all recorded one hit in the game while the Colonels turned one double play in the field.
 
Joey Smith was awarded his first win of the season after pitching 6.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. David Woolley racked up three RBIs on two base hits including a double. Griffin Patridge came around to score twice for Elizabethtown.
 
Wilkes came back hungry for runs in the second game and got off to a strong start at the plate. After Loch and Chase Vrabel (Gibsonia, PA/Pine Richland) both reached safely, Luksic knocked one run in with a sac-fly to give the Colonels an early 1-0 lead. On the next at-bat, Jimmy Brazofsky (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) reached on a throwing error by the Blue Jays' third baseman while Vrabel scored in the process.
 
The Blue and Gold's 2-0 lead was short-lived, as a sac-fly to left in the bottom of the first scored a run from third to cut ETown's deficit to a single run.
 
A three-run home run in the bottom of the second gave the home team a 4-2 lead before a second solo shot expanded the lead to three runs.
 
Wilkes put runners on second and third with one out in the third, but were unable to bring a run in as the score held steady at 5-2.
 
Elizabethtown tacked on another run in the bottom half of the inning on a single to right field, but the Colonels got out of the inning thanks to a nice throw by catcher Max Alessi (Wallenpaupack, PA/Wallenpaupack) that beat the back runner, who had attempted to advance to second on the throw home.
 
Jacob Cambria (Elysburg, PA/Southern Columbia) and Ma. Show both worked walks in the fourth to put runners on first and second for Loch, who singled to load the bases. Spencer stepped up to the plate next and connected on a pitch for an RBI infield single that kept the bases loaded and made the score 6-3 in favor of the Blue Jays. On the next at-bat Vrabel was hit by a pitch to walk in Ma. Show from third and cut the Colonels' deficit to a pair.
 
ETown was able to build their biggest lead of the ballgame in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a single up the middle, a groundout that scored a runner from third and an RBI sac-fly. When all was said and done, the busy inning produced three runs and brought the score to 9-4.
 
Wilkes wasted no time chipping away at Elizabethtown's lead in the bottom of the fifth. Following a single by Devin Markert (Pittston, PA/Pittston Area) and a double to left field by Cambria, Ma. Show made it to first on a throwing error that allowed both runners to score. After the hectic play, the Colonels trailed 9-6.
 
Wilton Abreu (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Liceo Americo Pérez Tolentino) came on in relief of Zachary Lloyd (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) in the fifth and worked a quick 1-2-3 inning to get the Blue and Gold back up to the plate.
 
Zack Luksic (Shavertown, PA/Dallas) cut further into the ETown lead in the sixth, crushing a home run over the left field fence for his team-leading fifth homer of the season as Wilkes pulled within two runs of tying the game.
 
Abreu shut down the Blue Jay bats once again in the sixth and seventh innings to prevent the hosts from adding any insurance runs.
 
Following a leadoff single by Loch in the eighth, Spencer hit a monster shot to left field that cleared the wall and tied the contest at 9-9.
 
ETown responded in the bottom of the inning with a grand slam; the fifth ball that left the yard in the game. The four runs delivered a crushing blow to the Colonels, who now trailed 13-9.
 
Despite putting the first two batters on base in the ninth, Wilkes went down on three consecutive strikeouts to end the tightly-contested game.
 
Mi. Show was assessed his first loss of the season after giving up the grand slam in the eighth that opened up a four-run lead. Spencer and Luksic led the way offensively with a pair of homers and five RBIs between the pair. Luksic, along with Ryan Cosby (Buford, GA/Mountain View (GA)), also picked up stolen bases in the loss.
 
Zach Silfies was credited with the win for his 2.0 innings of relief pitching, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out five Colonels. Woolley, Mason Woolwine and Garrett Schwartzbeck all hit balls out of the park for ETown, accounting for a whopping 11 RBIs.
 
The Colonels wrap up their Landmark series against Elizabethtown on Sunday, April 21. First pitch against the Blue Jays at Kevin Scott Boyd Stadium is set for 12:00 p.m.