March 25, 2006

Stats

Salem, Va. - Mercyhurst went 1-2 in the opening day of the Salem (Va) Invitational. The Lakers opened with a 6-3 win over Salem International before dropping consecutive contests to Kutztown 2-0 and Shippensburg 3-2.

In the opener, junior Kim Griffin (3-5) pitched a complete-game three-hitter while senior Jacquie Theurer hit her first homerun and drove in three. The Lakers rallied for four runs in the last of the fourth to erase a 2-1 deficit.

In the middle game, Kutztown's Stacey Denlinger struck out 11 in out-dueling Mercyhurst senior Jen Feret (5-6). Both teams had five hits with the Bears plating both runs in the bottom of the first.

The finale saw #20 Shippensburg score a run in the top of the sixth to break a 2-2 tie and hand junior Katie Clark (0-1) the loss. The Lakers tied the game in the last of the fifth on solo homeruns by sophomore Jessica McNurlen, her second, and junior Melissa Rizzo, her third.

Mercyhurst, 8-13 overall, will conclude play Sunday with contests against two West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) schools, Shepherd and West Virginia Wesleyan.