HUNTINGDON – The Wilkes baseball team defeated Juniata College 9-6 in their Landmark Conference matchup at Langdon-Goodale Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
The win bolstered the Colonels' overall record to 16-4 while improving their conference results to 7-2.
 
Nathan Loch (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley) got things started for the Colonels in the top of the first with a leadoff walk. After reaching second on a stolen base, he came around to score on an RBI single up the middle for Luke Spencer (Lehman, PA/Lake Lehman) to open up a 1-0 lead for Wilkes. Spencer moved to third on a steal and passed ball, however a 6-3 double play prevented the visitors from tacking on any more runs.
 
Zachary Lloyd (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) took the mound in his eighth appearance of the season and got out of a first-and-second situation thanks to a 5-4-3 double play. He made short work of the Eagles in the second inning, getting two fly-outs to Jimmy Brazofsky (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) in right field and a swinging strikeout. Lloyd continued to deal in the third, sending the Juniata bats down in order by way of a strikeout swinging, a foul-out to Max Alessi (Wallenpaupack, PA/Wallenpaupack) behind the plate and a strikeout looking.
 
Brazofsky worked a walk in the top of the fourth and swiftly stole second to put himself in scoring position. He moved 90 feet closer to home on a passed ball, then crossed the plate as the 2-0 run when a ball hit by Alessi found grass in right field.
 
Juniata got on the board in the bottom half of the fourth when a double to right knocked in one run and advanced another runner to third. Lloyd worked his way out of the second-and-third jam by fanning consecutive batters to escape the inning with a 2-1 lead still intact.
 
Matthew Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) kicked off an eventful fifth with a leadoff single down the left field line, followed by a double down the right field chalk by Loch that put runners on second and third. Spencer knocked in both runs with the Colonels' second-straight double to make it a 4-1 ballgame. Chase Vrabel (Gibsonia, PA/Pine Richland) stepped up to the plate next and promptly crushed a two-run homer over the center field wall to expand the lead to five. When all was said and done, Wilkes put up four runs on four hits in the fifth.
 
Lloyd continued his dominance on the bump with a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth. After getting the leadoff batter to ground out to Ma. Show at shortstop, he pitched into some soft contact with a pop-up to Loch at second. The first-year concluded the fifth frame with a fly-out to Mike Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) in center field. It was more of the same in the sixth, as the right-hander got a pair of Eagles to fly-out to Mi. Show
 
Loch smacked his second double of the game to lead off the seventh, then put himself 90 feet from scoring with a stolen base. The Colonels were unable to bring the second baseman home, as Juniata's pitcher retired the next three batters he faced to end the threat.
 
The Eagle's bats found some life in the bottom of the seventh with a trio of singles that scored one run and cut their deficit to four. Two more runs came around to score on an infield single, which knocked LLoyd out of the game after 6.2 innings of service and 120 pitches thrown. Mi. Show came on in relief and righted the ship with a fly-out to Zack Luksic (Shavertown, PA/Dallas) in left after allowing a single that drove in one more run. After seven innings, the Colonels held on to a 6-5 lead.
 
Wilkes was able to restore their two-run lead in the top of the eighth when Alessi got on base with a single to center and proceeded to score on an RBI double by Todd Kolbicka (Hanover Twp., PA/Hanover). Kolbicka's knock to center field put the Colonels up 7-5.
 
Juniata loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth and drove in a run on a sac-fly to right. Mi. Show stayed calm and pitched his way through the storm, getting the next batter to ground out to second without bringing home the tying run.
 
Loch got on base for the third time of the afternoon on an error by the Juniata third baseman. Vrabel then reached safely on a hit-by-pitch and was replaced by Ryan Cosby (Buford, GA/Mountain View (GA)) on the basepaths. Cosby moved to third on a double by Mi. Show that split the gap between the right and center fielders, scoring Loch from second.  The pinch runner would also cross home plate due to a wild pitch to bring the score to 9-6.
 
Despite allowing a single and double, Mi. Show was able to close out the ninth with a putout of his own, covering first on a ground ball to Cosby. The Colonels claimed victory by a score of 9-6.
 
Lloyd picked up his fifth win of the season, advancing to 5-1 after his six-strikeout performance through 6.2 innings of work on the mound. Mi. Show earned his sixth save of the year after allowing one run through 2.1 innings. Vrabel's two-run shot put an exclamation point on the Colonels' 12-hit offensive showing while Spencer drove in three runs himself. Loch and Alessi each recorded three hits in the win.
 
Zachary Malone was charged with the loss for the Eagles, falling to 1-5 on the season. Designated hitter Caden Collins led the way offensively with three hits while RBIs were evenly distributed between Dakotah Snyder, Corey Daniels, Joey Woodrow and Charlie Bakken, who all had one apiece.
 
The Colonels continue their road trip at Juniata on Sunday, April 7 when they take on the Eagles in a doubleheader. First pitch in game one is scheduled for 12:00 p.m., with game two slated to start at 3:00 p.m.