BUTLER, Pa. – The Mercyhurst University baseball team dug itself too deep of a hole on Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament and suffered an 18-11 loss to the Warriors of East Stroudsburg University. With the loss, the Lakers, the top seed from the Western Division dropped to 32-7 overall and enters the losers bracket on Thursday. The Warriors improved to 29-17 on the year.

Mercyhurst certainly did not go down without a fight. The Lakers, who trailed by as many as 15 runs, racked up 19 hits in the game and scored eight runs over the final three innings to cut into the deficit.

Redshirt sophomore righthander Cam Knott got the start on the mound but it unfortunately was Knott the start that Cam and the Lakers were expecting.

The Warriors of East Stroudsburg, the fourth seed from the Eastern Division, put seven runs on the scoreboard before Mercyhurst even took its swings at the plate.

Knott, a PSAC West Second Team selection the day before, did not survive the first inning after allowing seven runs (four earned) on four hits, three walks, and two costly errors in one-third of an inning.

Two of the runs scored after freshman reliever Connor Ryan entered the game with one out and the bases loaded. Ryan got a fly out to center field from East Stroudsburg's Jay Young – not deep enough to score the runner from third. However, an errant throw back into the infield ended up in the Warrior dugout which allowed two runners to cross the plate.

The righthander entered the contest having walked only eight batters in 36 innings prior to Wednesday's outing. He ended up throwing 42 pitches in a top of the first inning that lasted more than half an hour to complete.

East Stroudsburg extended its lead to 8-0 with a towering home run to right field by Ian Allen off of Ryan – the first run the freshman has allowed in limited work this season.

The Warriors added three more runs off of Ryan in the top of the third to push the lead to 11-0.

Mercyhurst finally solved East Stroudsburg starter Matt Festa with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning. Junior Brendan Cox led off the inning with a triple to right center and then scored on an RBI double down the left field line by senior Giancarlo Saia. Sophomore Cameron Balego plated Saia with a two-out single to left.

But, the Warriors were not done, plating five runs in the top of the fifth inning against redshirt senior Jordan Bray to take a 16-3 advantage.

Redshirt senior Jon Corbi took over in the top of the sixth inning and gave up a solo home run to Conner Crookham to extend the Warrior lead to 17-3 after six.

Corbi gave up another run in the top of the seventh to give the Warriors an 18-3 lead before the Lakers really chipped away.

Mercyhurst got a run back in the bottom of the seventh when Cox singled home redshirt senior Ryan Siegel. Then, the Lakers strung together six runs in the bottom of the eighth to cut the lead to 18-10.

In the eighth, Balego doubled home junior Hank Morrison, who singled to start the frame. Freshman Collin Fantaskey then hit a deep sacrifice fly to right, scoring junior Dan Karstedt, who had a pinch-hit single earlier in the inning. With Balego on third, Siegel doubled him home, making the score 18-7 at that point. Junior Austin Alonge followed with a single, two batters later, scoring Siegel. Freshman pinch hitter Jimmy Standohar singled through the right side to plate senior Angel Martinez followed by an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Morrison for the final run of the inning.

Balego started the bottom of the ninth with a triple to right center field. He would later score on a groundout from Martinez for the final run of the contest.

Knott was saddled with his first loss of the season. Ryan went two innings and allowed four runs on six hits. Bray pitched 2.2 innings and gave up five runs on seven hits. Corbi finished out the game, going four innings and allowing two runs on four hits.

Festa went seven innings for the Warriors and allowed four runs on eleven Laker hits. He improved to 7-4 on the season.

Alonge, Cox, and Balego each had three of Mercyhurst's 19 hits. Saia and Balego each drove in a pair.

Mercyhurst will look to stave off elimination on Thursday morning when they take on West Chester at 9:30 a.m.