April 23, 2006

Stats

Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst completed a four-game weekend sweep of Northwood Sunday and extended its scoreless-inning streak to 21 by blanking the Timberwolves 3-0 and 9-0. The Lakers, 31-11 overall and 17-5 in the GLIAC, won their 13th and 14th games in succession. Northwood left Erie 16-26 and 6-16 respectively.

Brandon Mendola, James Ludwig, and John Morris combined on a 5-hit shutout as Mercyhurst took the opener 3-0.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when the Lakers combined singles by Scott Monzel, Walter Wieczorek and Brian Zacour to load the bases. NU starter Trent Mulder then walked Dan Bertolini to force in a run. Mercyhurst made it 2-0 in the fifth when David Lough, Joe Luli and Monzel singled and put the final marker on the board in the sixth when Jamie Walczak hit his first round-tripper of the season, the game's only extra-base blow.

Mendola (5-2) worked 5.1 innings, allowed four hits, struck out six, and walked four. James Ludwig allowed a single in .2 of an inning and John Morris mopped up in the seventh for his 8th save, tying a Mercyhurst single-season record. Monzel and Walczak paced an 8-hit attack with two hits each. Mulder (4-5) went the distance for the Timberwolves.

The Lakers then completed the sweep of the four-game series with a 9-0 rout in the nightcap. Adam Nine (7-1; left) tossed a complete game four-hitter and benefited from a 13-hit attack. Nine's gem was his third shutout of the season, equaling a Mercyhurst one-season mark. Mercyhurst's 14 straight wins are the most since a 19-game streak in 1997, a season in which the Lakers finished 40-8. Northwood scored in just one inning (the seventh, Saturday's first game) in the four games and was outscored 27-2. Both of its runs were unearned.

The Lakers jumped on second game starter Derrick Bennett for three in the first. Matt Echan started the uprising with a triple, Lough scored the first run with an RBI grounder, Monzel singled home the second and Wieczorek's double down the left line plated the third.

Lough's second inning single drove in Bertolini for a 4-0 advantage and the Lakers put the Timberwolves away with a four-spot in the fourth. Lough hit his eighth dinger of the sesason, this one with a man on, Wieczorek singled home a run and Sean Weyant's base hit produced the fourth marker.

Monzell's single scored the Lakers' final tally in the fifth. Echan, Lough, Monzel, Wieczorek, and Zacour banged out two hits apiece. Lough extended his hitting streak to 14 games and his round-tripper moved him into a tie for third all-time for one-season homeruns.

Nine allowed just four hits in pitching his second complete game of the week. He fanned five and lowered his ERA to 1.76.

Mercyhurst will step out of the conference Tuesday when it plays a pair at IUP before traveling to Grand Valley State for an important GLIAC series next weekend.