Mercyhurst 8, Edinboro 5
Mercyhurst 6, Edinboro 5

ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst College softball team swept visiting rival Edinboro in a twinbill on Saturday, winning the opener by an 8-5 count before posting a 6-5 win in the nightcap. 

Mercyhurst improves to 23-21 overall, 9-7 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division while Edinboro drops to 19-14, 7-7 in the PSAC West. 

The Lakers conclude their regular season while the Fighting Scots will play two contests against Gannon on Sunday afternoon. Regardless of the outcome, the Lakers have clinched the division's No. 2 seed and will travel to West Chester, the Eastern Division's No. 1 seed. Lock Haven is the No. 3 seed in that pod. 

Edinboro can still tie Mercyhurst at 9-7 in the standings with a sweep over Gannon on Sunday, but the Lakers win the tiebreaker since they were a perfect 4-0 against Slippery Rock while Edinboro was 3-1.

The Lakers salvaged a split with Edinboro in the season series thanks to timely hitting as Mercyhurst pounded out 20 hits in the doubleheader, including five home runs. 

In game one, Edinboro used a five-run fifth inning to knot the score, but the Lakers were able to rebound with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on Kara Gorgos' three-run homer. 

Jen Bower and Meghan Houston each added single round-trippers in the fourth while Michelle Schmitz's RBI-single in the first opened the scoring. 

Lakers starter Amanda Norman went 4 2/3 innings, allowing five earned runs on four hits. After facing one batter in the fifth and throwing two scoreless innings to close out the game, Kristi Janoske earned the win, giving up just two hits in the process. 

In game two, Janoske also picked up the win, moving her to 13-13 on the year after allowing five earned runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. Megan Hopton picked up her first save after facing the potentially tying run in the fifth and going two more scoreless innings, giving up just one hit. 

The Lakers built a comfortable 6-1 lead after scoring two in the first, one in the second and three in the third but had to hold off a surging Edinboro squad that made it close with four runs in the fifth to add to its run scored in the third. 

RBI-singles by Amber Rapose and Houston in the first opened the scoring, with Emily Redig adding the Lakers fifth homer on the day in the second. Schmitz's RBI-single in the fourth, coupled with Bower's big two-RBI single completed the Lakers scoring. 

For Edinboro, Beth Mullins took the loss in both games, moving to 15-10 overall.