WEST LAWN, Pa. – The third-seeded Wilkes University baseball team opened up its first trip to the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) tournament since 2009 on Friday evening, falling to second-seed Misericordia University by a 16-3 final at Owl's Field in West Lawn, Pa.

The Colonels are now 17-16 overall.

Misericordia plated runs in the first, third and fourth as it raced out to a 13-0 lead through four innings.

Wilkes got on the board in the top of the fifth when Matt Reinert (Telford, PA/Souderton) doubled down the left field line to bring in Alex Halladay (West Chester, PA/Bayard Rustin), who got on base with a one-out walk.

After the Cougars added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, the Colonels added two runs in the top of the eighth when Joe Champi (Dupont, PA/Pittston) hit a two-run single up the middle that brought home Nick Pronti (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Wood-Ridge), who reached on a throwing error by the pitcher, and Jack Fischer (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley), who doubled down the right field line.

Misericordia finished the scoring with a single run in the bottom of the eighth.

The Colonels return to the field tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. when they will face King's College in an elimination game. The Monarchs fell to top-seeded DeSales University 9-1 in the early game on Friday.