Baseball drops double-header against Delaware Valley

The Wilkes University baseball team’s playoff destiny became a bit murkier following their two losses to Delaware Valley on Saturday, April 25. 

 

A win would have secured a No. 1 seed in the upcoming Freedom conference playoffs in Boyertown, Pa, but the losses dropped the Colonels into a tie with rivals Manhattanville and FDU-Florham. Each of the three teams has five conference losses, but Manhattanville and FDU-Florham have games remaining on their schedule. 

 

Despite Saturday’s results, Wilkes’s record is still a sterling 26-9, with an 11-5 mark in conference play.

 

"We've lost three in a row now but there's no reason we can't come together as a team and regain the focus we've played with much of the season," said senior Andrew Garofoli.  "If we can just do that there's nobody in the conference we can't beat."

 

"In a way I feel it's good to get a loss before playoffs so that we realize we're not unbeatable," said junior Tom Buckler.  "It brought us back to reality, in a way."

           

The first game of the doubleheader saw the Colonels take a 1-0 lead in the second inning off a Shane Keister RBI single to left field. Joel Watson, who had led off with a walk, came around to score and put Wilkes on the board. Delaware Valley responded in the bottom of the third with two runs of their own behind the power of three hits, two of them being back-to-back triples from junior Mike Isgro and senior Kevin Weingart. Wilkes’s Geoff Miller and Al Clocker led off the top of the fourth with singles, with Miller advancing to third base on Clocker’s hit. John Florance would reach on a fielder’s choice immediately after, plating Miller and tying the game at two apiece. The Aggies would limit the damage to a single run, however.

           

Delaware Valley would go on to take a 5-2 lead over the next two innings.    Weingart would walk in the fifth inning and later score on an RBI, and the Aggies tripled again in the sixth to drive in an unearned run before scoring again on a sacrifice fly. The two teams held each other scoreless in the seventh inning before Wilkes scored two more runs in the eighth inning. Mike McAndrew led off the inning with a walk before being brought in by Andrew Garofoli’s triple. Garofoli would score soon after following Watson’s groundout to Delaware Valley’s shortstop. 

           

The Colonels’ comeback attempt was thwarted in the bottom of the eighth, when they allowed Delaware Valley two runs on an Isgro double. Wilkes ended up losing 7-4, although their pitching allowed only three unearned runs in the contest. Freshman starter Ryan Fetterman was not dominating but did a good job of keeping the Colonels in the game, allowing three earned runs over seven innings.

           

The second game was not as close. Delaware Valley led 12-4 after three innings, with four coming on a grand slam by Dan Hrubos in the third. He would finish the game with three hits, four runs, and four RBI. The Aggies would win 18-6, completing the sweep of the doubleheader. Garofoli provided Wilkes its one real bright spot, hitting a two-run shot in the third inning that served as his eighth of the season, tied for the team lead with Randy Dengler.

 

"I felt as if we didn't really come to play [against Delaware Valley]," said Garofoli.  "We had already secured a playoff spot before the games, and Delaware Valley came to play since we were the end of their schedule."

           

The Colonels’ last regular season game is scheduled for Tuesday, April 28, at home against Scranton at 4 p.m. Wilkes will try and close out what has thus far been a fantastic season, one that was not entirely expected following the departure of a strong senior class last year. Special mention goes to starting pitcher Buckler, who broke a 31-year-old school record for wins in a season after winning his ninth against Alvernia.

 

"It feels good have to set a record at Wilkes," said Buckler.  "I had no idea I was close to breaking it, but I'm glad to have broken a record at a collegiate level.  "I'm happier having helped the team win nine games though [. . .] Hopefully we can go and get a bunch more this weekend before nationals."