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Salena Diaz: Wilkes University’s Founders Gala puts college within reach for first-generation students

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PAWTUCKET, R.I. &#8212; Wednesday&#8217;s RailRiders game at Pawtucket was supposed to be about the second rehab appearance for Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka.Instead, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre second baseman Cole Figueroa outshined the right-hander who is recovering from right forearm soreness and wrist tendinitis.Figueroa had a career day going 5 for 5 with 5 runs batted in and finishing a triple shy of the cycle tying the franchise record for hits in a game, while Tanaka last just three innings for the second straight outing and three run on four hits in a 9-6 RailRiders victory at McCoy Stadium.Unlike his last start for the RailRiders when he tossed three scoreless frames, Tanaka was hit hard and early by the PawSox as they scored three runs in the first two innings off Tanaka as they loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning before a run came in on a sacrifice fly to put Pawtucket in front 1-0.The home team plated two more runs in the second inning highlighted by a homer from Jackie Bradley Jr., who like Figueroa finished a triple short of hitting for the cycle. Tanaka finished his outing with a 1-2-3 third inning.Figueroa&#8217;s big day started in the top of the second as he laced a bases-clearing double giving the RailRiders a 3-1 lead.SWB scored three more runs in the third inning as Tyler Austin drove in a run with a single and a pair of runs scored on a Pawtucket error for a 6-3 lead.Kyle Davies relieved Tanaka in the fourth inning, but let the PawSox back in the game giving up one run in the fourth and two in the fifth as they equaled the score at 6-6. But that&#8217;s all Davies allowed in his five innings of work as he picked up the win to improve to 3-3.While Davies was keeping the PawSox off the scoreboard, he gave his team time to get the bats going again. The RailRiders scored single runs in each of the last three innings to secure the victory. They took the lead in the seventh when Ben Gamel (3 for 5) tripled &#8212; for the fifth time this season &#8212; and scored on a groundout. Figueroa&#8217;s second longball of the season, a solo shot in the eighth increased SWB&#8217;s lead to 8-6.Figueroa singled in a run in the ninth for his fifth hit and fifth RBI of the afternoon. Catcher Austin Romine also had a big day for the RailRiders finishing 4 for 5 with three runs scored. Romine has been hot lately hitting .326 (15 for 46) in his last 12 games to raise his average 51 points in that span to .246.RailRiders 9, PawSox 6RailRiders`AB`R`H`BIWilliams cf`5`0`1`0Gamel lf`5`1`3`0Flores dh`3`1`1`0Roller 1b`4`1`0`0Romine c`5`3`4`0Austin rf`4`0`1`1Noonan ss`5`1`1`0Galvez 3b`4`1`0`1Figueroa 2b`5`1`5`5Totals`40`9`16`7Pawtucket`AB`R`H`BIBradley Jr. cf`5`2`3`1Berry rf`5`0`1`0Craig 1b`4`1`1`0Brentz lf`4`0`0`0Shaw 3b`3`1`1`2Montz dh`4`0`1`1Marrero 2b`3`2`2`0Quintero c`4`0`1`0Miller ss`4`0`1`2Totals`36`6`11`6RailRiders`033`000`111`&#8212;`9PawSox`120`120`000`&#8212;`6E: Marrero (9), Quintero (1). DP: PawSox 1, RailRiders 0. LOB: PawSox 6, RailRiders 10. 2B: Figueroa (6), Bradley (10), Shaw (6), Montz (10). 3B: Gamel (5). HR: Figueroa (2), Bradley (2). SF: Shaw. SB: Berry (16). CS: Gamel (3). Outfield assists: Austin (Quintero at second), Brentz (Galvez at home).RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOTanaka`3.0`4`3`3`2`4Davies (W, 3-3) `5.0`7`3`3`0`2Pinder (S, 1)`1.0`0`0`0`0`2Pawtucket`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOCouch`3.0`8`6`6`3`1Hinojosa `3.0`1`0`0`0`4Cornely (L, 2-3)`1.2`5`2`2`2`1Spruill`1.1`2`1`1`1`1Umpires: HP: Derek Mollica. 2B: Jeff Gosney. 3B: Matt McCoyT: 3:06 (:08 delay). Att: 4,935.

Figueroa leads RailRiders past PawSox