EDWARDSVILLE, Pa.  – With a dramatic 7-5 win over the University of Scranton, the Wilkes University baseball team secured the top seed of the Landmark Conference championship tournament at Bruggeworth Field on Tuesday afternoon.

This marks the first time that the Colonels have earned the No. 1 seed for a conference tournament since 1994, when they went on to win the MAC Freedom.

Wilkes improves to 28-10 on the year and 19-5 in Landmark play, claiming the top seed from Elizabethtown College thanks to sweeping the Blue Jays early in the season. Scranton falls to 19-17 overall and 15-9 in Landmark play, securing the third seed for the conference tournament.

Matthew Show (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning, scoring Devin Markert (Pittston, PA/Pittston Area) on a single to right center. Nathan Loch (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley) doubled the lead in the next at-bat, bringing home Jacob Cambria (Elysburg, PA/Southern Columbia) with a single up the middle. The Royals responded in the third, scoring one on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead down to 2-1, but a five-run fifth saw the Colonels take a comfortable lead.

Luke Spencer (Lehman, PA/Lake Lehman) opened the scoring with an RBI single up the middle, with Zack Luksic (Shavertown, PA/Dallas) snagging up an RBI with another single in the same spot to give Wilkes the 4-1 lead. Luksic then reached home on a Markert sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 5-1. Gavin Lacoe (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) continued the offensive assault with a triple to left center field, scoring Andres Cruz (Wayne, PA/Radnor). After scoring the first run of the inning, Mathis drove in the last after getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, putting Wilkes on top 7-1.

Scranton added four runs in the sixth and seventh inning to make it a 7-5 ball game, coming down to the top of the ninth. Riley Jagger (Hop Bottom, PA/Mountain View) entered the game with runners on first and second and no outs, getting a fielder's choice, a strikeout, and a foul out in the next three at-bats to complete his second save of the year and the victory for Wilkes.

AJ Levandoski (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) (6-0) pitched the win, throwing 6.1 innings allowing four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts. At the plate, Spencer and Luksic led the team with two hits each, while seven Colonels tallied RBIs.

Dominic Chieffalo (0-2) was given the decision for Scranton, allowing five earned runs through four innings. At the plate, Pat Coyne and TJ Pleban registered multi-hit games.

Wilkes will now play in the Landmark Conference championship tournament first round on Friday, May 9 and will face the winner of the No. 4 and No. 5 seed matchup played that Tuesday. The tournament will be held at Penn Medicine Park in Lancaster, Pa.