SCRANTON, Pa. - The Wilkes University baseball team suffered their first conference loss of the season Wednesday evening to the University of Scranton Royals by a score of 11-6.

The Colonels drop to 9-7 (6-1 Landmark), while the Royals improve to 13-5 (3-1 Landmark).

Wilkes got on the board right away against their cross-town rival. Nathan Loch (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley) started the game with a single, stole second base, and then Andres Cruz (Wayne, PA/Radnor) brought him home with an RBI single two batters later.

That put the Colonels up 1-0, but the Royals answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first. Joey Granko singled with two outs to keep the inning alive, and a John Heitzman RBI double drove Granko in to tie the game.

In the top of the third, back-to-back singles by Evan Melberger (West Pittston, PA/Wyoming Area) and Loch gave Wilkes runners on the corners with nobody out. Jack Smale (Kunkletown, PA/Pleasant Valley) brought a runner in with an RBI groundout, and Jack Mathis (Exeter PA/Wyoming Area) got the second guy home with a sacrifice fly to put the Colonels back on top 3-1.

However, the Royals once again countered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game. Conor Campbell singled to start the inning, and two batters later Granko hit a two-run homer off Zachary Lloyd (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) to make it a 3-3 ballgame.

Wilkes loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, but only managed to score one run. Melberger walked the run in with only one out, but Loch hit into a forceout at home and Smale struck out to end the inning. 

The Colonels kept that 4-3 lead going into the bottom of the sixth, until a four-run Scranton outburst would give them the lead for good. A Vincent Napolitano home run off Nikolas Schwartz (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe) tied the game, a Tyler Ansell (Knoxville, TN/South Doyle) wild pitch later in the inning gave the Royals the lead, and an error and a single brought in the final two runs of the inning to make it 7-4 Royals.

Wilkes went down 1-2-3 their next time up, and then the Royals piled on another four runs in the bottom of the seventh to effectively end the game. The Colonels scored two more runs in top of the eighth, but Scranton held on for the 11-6 win.

Lloyd went three and two-thirds innings pitched, allowing three earned runs off eight hits. Schwartz took the loss for Wilkes, going an inning and two-thirds with two earned runs off one hit, a walk, and a hit batter.

Meanwhile for Scranton, their starting pitcher Krish Patel went three innings and allowed three runs off five hits. Kieran Lodewick got the win with an inning and a third pitched, while allowing zero runs.

Loch was Wilkes' best hitter in the game by going 2-4 with two singles, a walk, and two RBIs. For Scranton, Granko and Heitzman carried the offense. Granko hit 3-4 with two singles, a solo home run, and four RBIs. Hetizman went 3-4 as well with a single, two doubles, and five RBIs.

The Colonels look to right the ship this weekend as they welcome Drew to Bruggeworth Field for a three-game series. It begins on Saturday, March 28 with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.