Center Valley, PA, (April 9, 2006) – The DeSales University baseball team lost for the first time in Freedom Conference play on Sunday afternoon dropping the second game of a doubleheader with conference foe Wilkes University on a sunny day at Butz Field.

 

        DSU (11-9, 5-1 Freedom) took the first game, 13-5, by scoring in every inning and pounding 17 hits off the Colonel (8-10, 3-8 Freedom) staff but were never able to get anything going at the plate in game two until the last inning when DSU took advantage of two WU errors to plate two runs but left the tying run on third and the winning run at second to fall 5-4.

 

        In game one, Wilkes took an early 5-2 lead with four runs in the top of the third inning.  Three consecutive singles were followed by a one-out double from Gennaro Zangardi who later scored on a single by Kyle Stover.

 

        The Bulldogs tied the game in bottom of the inning with three runs including two off the bat of freshman Greg Treat (Concord, NH/Concord) who singled with two outs and the bases loaded.

 

        DSU took the lead for good in the fourth, when sophomore Andrew Heard (Alexandria, VA/Hayfield) and freshman Mike Pennington (Dresher, PA/LaSalle College) each came around to score on Colonel errors.  One more tally in the fifth made it 8-5 before the Bulldogs broke it open with five runs in the sixth.  Freshman Matt Connors (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) had a two-RBI single and Treat added an RBI triple in the five-run outburst.

 

        Junior Jon Kensecki (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty), the Cambridge Search Player of the Game, was lights out in relief of senior Matt Reppert (Allentown, PA/Dieruff) who lasted just 3.1 innings allowing nine hits and five runs.  Kensecki earned his first win of the season pitching 3.2 innings allowing just two hits and striking out nine.

 

        Treat, Heard and sophomore Scott Matejicka (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) each had three hits in game one.  Freshman Mike Bianca (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. St. Joseph), Pennington and Connors added two base knocks in the 17-hit attack.

 

        In game two, the Colonels again took an early 2-0 lead in the third inning on an RBI groundout from Kyle Follweiler and an RBI single from Matt LoPresto.  Wilkes plated one more run in both the fourth and sixth innings only to have DeSales equal the tally in the bottom of the frame.

 

        Leading 4-2 in the seventh, pinch-hitter Justin Popovich stroked what proved to be a big two-out single to right field plating LoPresto and giving Wilkes a 5-2 lead.

 

        Senior Mike Quinn retired the first Bulldog but freshman John Pisker (Oley, PA/Oley Valley) reached base when his high pop to second base was dropped.  Freshman Nick Repas (Abingdon, MD/Bel Air) singled thru the right side to bring the tying run to the plate.

 

        Treat continued his torrid hitting with runners in scoring position, slamming an RBI single down the right-field line scoring the pinch-runner, senior Derek Miller (Green Lane, PA/Upper Perkiomen), to make it 5-3.  After a ground out moved the runners over to second and third, Heard reached via an error by the shortstop making it 5-4 and putting the tying run on third.  Heard was given second via defensive indifference but Bianca popped out to a tumbling first baseman to end the game.

 

        Heard, Repas and Matejicka each had two hits to lead the bat attack and junior Luke Pisker (Oley, PA/Oley Valley) suffered the loss lasting 5.1 innings allowing six hits and two earned runs.