KINGSTON (PA) – Carmen Lopresto hit a two-out, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Wilkes University a 5-4 victory over visiting Delaware Valley College in a Freedom Conference game.

The victory gave the Colonels the season series as the two teams split a doubleheader in Doylestown last week. It also kept Wilkes alive in the playoff hunt as it improved to 16-13 overall and 9-9 in the Freedom. The Aggies fell to 6-17 overall and 3-10 in the conference.

The first two Colonel batters in the ninth were retired by Delaware Valley reliever Brian Hafer on a ground out and a strikeout. That brought Lopresto to the plate and the leadoff batter drilled a pitch over the left field fence for the game winner.

Wilkes used the long ball to take a 2-0, first-inning lead as Matt Ruch connected on a two-run shot. Delaware Valley tied it in the top of the third as Kellen Jarrett had a sacrifice fly to bring in one tally while the second scored on an error.

The Colonels regained the lead in their half of the third on Ruch's RBI single. The Aggies countered in the fifth as Jarrett led off with a single and eventually scored on a run-scoring single by Gary Cooper. The teams traded runs again as Angus Neary drew a bases-loaded walk for Wilkes in the fifth and Jake Barben had a RBI single for Delaware Valley in the sixth. That left the scored tied at 4-4 until Lopresto's late-game dramatics.

Lopresto finished the afternoon 2-for-4 with the home run, two stolen bases, four runs scored and one RBI. Ruch was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs. Mark Siebel picked up the win in relief.

Barben and Cooper each went 2-for-5 with an RBI for the Aggies. Hafer took the loss despite allowing just one run and two hits in three-plus innings of work out of the bullpen. Chad Schmuck started and allowed four runs and five hits while striking out six in five innings.