EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – The Wilkes University baseball team opened Landmark Conference play at Bruggeworth Field Saturday afternoon, sweeping the day's doubleheader against Elizabethtown College 6-4 and 12-2.
Wilkes improves to 8-4 overall and 2-0 in Landmark play, while Elizabethtown falls to 7-5 with an 0-2 record in conference play.
Jacob Cambria (Elysburg, PA/Southern Columbia) opened the scoring in game one with a sacrifice fly in the second inning to score
Mike Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights). The Blue Jays responded in the fourth with a double down the right field line that tied the game at one, but in their half off the inning the Colonels scored two more runs to take a 3-1 lead. Cambria brought home
Luke Spencer (Lehman, PA/Lake Lehman) on his second sacrifice fly of the day, and
Gavin Lacoe (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) walked with the bases loaded to add to the Wilkes lead.
The visitors scored again in the fifth with a single to right field, but like the inning prior Wilkes struck again in the bottom of the frame.
Zack Luksic's (Shavertown, PA/Dallas) groundout scored
Nathan Loch (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley) to give the Colonels a 4-2 lead, followed by pinch hitter Mike Sabella reaching on an error that scored
Jack Mathis (Exeter PA/Wyoming Area).
Elizabethtown closed the lead to just one run in the sixth, but the Colonels gathered a much-appreciated insurance run in the seventh as Loch reached home on a throwing error as he stole third and made it a 6-4 ballgame. 3.2 solid innings of relief from first-year
Riley Jagger (Hop Bottom, PA/Mountain View) allowing only one hit gave the Colonels the victory, picking up his first career save.
AJ Levandoski (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) (3-0) picked up the decision allowing two earned runs on five hits through 4.2 innings with six strikeouts. Spencer, Show, and
Andres Cruz (Wayne, PA/Radnor) had the three Colonel hits in the game, with Cambria leading the team with two RBIs.
Logan Burns (1-1) picked up the loss for the Blue Jays, allowing four earned runs on two hits through four innings. Quentin Perilli led the team with two hits.
The Blue Jays responded by opening the scoring in game two with a single to right field, but Wilkes once again responded with a score in a pick off attempt. The Colonels doubled the lead in the fourth inning as Cambria scored on a Blue Jay error.
In the fifth inning, Mathis scored Loch on a triple to deep right center field and was brought home in the next at-bat as Spencer singled down the left field line to give the Colonels a 5-1 lead. The Colonels added two more in the seventh as Loch scored on an error after stealing third again, and
Chase Vrabel (Gibsonia, PA/Pine Richland) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Five runs by the Colonels invoked the mercy rule, started by Mathis' second triple of the day that scored two to give Wilkes a 9-2 lead. Mathis scored in the next at bat after a balk by pitcher Pete Omiridis. Sabella drove in another run with a single to right center, and a few batters later the first year scored on the visitors' sixth error of the day to end the game at 12-2.
Zachary Lloyd (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) (2-1) dominated on the mound for the Colonels, allowing just two earned runs with three strikeouts. Mathis led the Colonels going 4-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs and two triples, with Loch and Spencer also recording multi-hit games.
Joey Smith (0-1) took the decision for Elizabethtown, pitching six innings allowing five runs (four earned) on ten hits. Perilli once again led the Blue Jays at the plate with three hits.
Wilkes finishes the three-game series at Bruggeworth Field with the Blue Jays on Monday, March 17. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
