MADISON, N.J. – Junior Brandon Kobryn fired a six-inning, three-hit complete in the nightcap to lift the Drew University baseball team to a split versus Wilkes University in a Landmark Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Doc Young Field at Lonnstrom Stadium.
 
Wilkes held off a furious Ranger comeback in the opener, winning 19-13, before Drew (8-9, 2-4 LC) captured the second game 13-1 in a game that was called after five and a half innings due to darkness.
 
Kobryn (3-1) went the distance for the first time this season while striking out four batters. He retired seven in a row from the third through the fifth innings, then worked out of a jam in the sixth. The Colonels loaded the bases with one out before Kobryn struck out consecutive batters looking to end the game while handing Wilkes (10-6, 4-1 LC) its first conference loss of the season.
 
Eight starters hit safely in the second game for Drew, including fifth-year Anthony Hernandez, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles and three RBIs. Senior Anthony Diaz Jr., freshman Anthony Vallaro, and freshman Frank Master added two hits apiece.
 
In the opener, Wilkes raced out to a 15-1 lead after four and a half innings, and both sides eventually emptied their benches before the Rangers mounted their comeback. After scoring a single run in the fifth, Drew erupted for a nine-run seventh – when it sent 14 batters to the plate – to make it 15-11. The inning was capped by a bases-clearing triple from freshman Connor Stokoe, who also doubled earlier in the inning, followed by a two-run homer from sophomore Aiden Mitchell.
 
The Colonels put two on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth to make it 17-11, but the Rangers refused to go quietly. In the bottom half, Drew pushed in two more runs on an infield single from Stokoe and a single from Mitchell to draw within four once again. Senior Will Fritch then stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and nearly tied it up with a mammoth blast that hooked just foul before Wilkes was able to escape.

The visitors tacked on two more insurance runs before reliever Colby Butczynski worked a perfect ninth.
 
Stokoe finished 3-for-3 with two runs and four RBIs for the Rangers while Mitchell and Fritch smacked two hits each.
 
The two sides return to action on Sunday when they conclude their series with a single game starting at noon.