SCRANTON, Pa. – The Wilkes University baseball team held off an eighth-inning comeback at the University of Scranton's Volpe Field on Wednesday night, defeating the Royals 5-3 in the 12^th inning for their third extra-inning conference win of the season.

Wilkes improves to 14-8 overall and 8-3 in Landmark Conference play, while Scranton falls to 10-9 with a 7-4 record in conference play.

The Colonels opened the scoring in the first inning as Nathan Loch (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley) scored as Luke Spencer (Lehman, PA/Lake Lehman) grounded into a double play. After four scoreless innings for each team, Jack Mathis (Exeter PA/Wyoming Area) doubled the lead with a single to right field that gave the Colonels a 2-0 advantage.

Scranton got on the board in the bottom of the sixth as a runner scored on a groundout, but Wilkes restored the two-run lead in the top of the eighth as Jacob Cambria (Elysburg, PA/Southern Columbia) scored on a wild pitch.

The Royals offense came alive in the bottom of the eighth and tallied two runs to tie the game at 3-3. The two teams remained locked in a defensive duel, with neither team able to score a run. The hosts nearly took the contest in the bottom of the 10th on a wild pitch by Caleb Graham (Exeter, PA/Wyoming Area), but the graduate student made the play at the plate to stop the winning run and end the inning.

In the 12th inning, the Colonels saw two aboard early, and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch. With runners on second and third, Trehnon Hugo (Wyalusing, PA/Wyalusing) hit a ball to center field that was dropped, scoring both Cambria and Michael Sabella (Cornelius, NC/Hough) on the error to give the Colonels a 5-3 lead. The Royals went down one, two, three in the bottom of the frame to seal the win for the Colonels.

Caleb Graham (Exeter, PA/Wyoming Area) (1-1) picked up the victory, pitching 4.1 innings allowing no runs on three hits with four strikeouts. Hunter Lawall (West Wyoming, PA/Wyoming Area) started the day on the mound for the Colonels, going 5.2 innings with one earned run and four strikeouts of his own. At the plate, Loch led the team with three hits and a stolen base, followed by Cambria with two.

Matt Scepkowski (2-2) was given the loss, pitching the 12th inning and allowing the final two runs of the game. Jake Elston led the Royals with three hits on the day, while John Heitzman had two hits and two RBIs.

The Colonels don't get much rest after this game, hitting the road again tomorrow for a non-conference matchup at DeSales University. First pitch against the Bulldogs is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.