Painesville, Ohio – Mercyhurst sophomores Jen Bower and Emily Redig hit two home runs apiece, helping the Laker softball team to a two-game sweep at Lake Erie College Tuesday, March 23. The Lakers downed the Storm 9-5 in the opener before taking the second game, 12-4.

With the two wins, Mercyhurst improves its record to 13-11, while Lake Erie is now 4-16 on the season.

The Lakers totaled 21 runs on 31 hits during the double-header, while the Storm tallied nine runs on 16 hits.

Bower and Elizabeth Maier each connected for three hits during the first game, with Bower belting two home runs and a double, driving in four runs. Anna Glomb and Julie Harmon registered two hits and two runs apiece in the series opener.

The Lakers jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the top of the first, as Bower hit a two run homer and Harmon followed with an RBI double. Kara Gorgos drove in Harmon for the 4-0 advantage.

Mercyhurst added four more runs in the top of the second inning with two scoring via bases-loaded walks and one by way of a wild pitch. Bower homered to lead off the top of the fifth, giving the Lakers a 9-0 lead.

Lake Erie, facing a possible run-rule situation, scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend the game. The Storm managed just one unearned run the rest of the way, as Mercyhurst prevailed, 9-5.

Kristi Janoske earned her fifth win of the season, allowing one unearned run on four hits in five and two-thirds innings. Sydney Cuscino pitched an inning and a third of relief. The Lakers roughed up Lauren Malicki for eight runs on seven hits in the first inning and two thirds.

Game two began as a pitchers' duel, with Mercyhurst leading 1-0 after two innings, and Lake Erie going hitless over the first two frames. Bower doubled in Michelle Schmitz for a 1-0 Laker lead in the top of the first. The Lakers added three more runs in the third, as Redig led off with a home run, and Glomb and Harmon hit back-to-back RBI doubles.

Lake Erie sliced into the deficit in the bottom of the third, scoring twice to trail, 4-2. The game got tighter after the Storm added a tally in fourth to make it 4-3. The Lakers outscored LEC, 8-1, over the remainder of the game. Redig blasted a three-run home run in the top of the sixth to provide breathing room for the visitors, making the score 7-3.

After a scoreless Lake Erie sixth, Mercyhurst tacked on five runs in the top of the seventh, with Megan Houston hitting an RBI single and Schmitz knocking in three with a homer. LEC tallied once in the seventh, but fell 12-4.

Redig and Bower went 3-for-4, while Redig added four RBI and four runs scored in game two, and Kristen Fyffe batted 4-for-4.

Amanda Norman started the second game, allowing three runs on five hits in three and two-thirds innings. Janoske (6-8) notched the win, giving up just one hit in two and one-thirds scoreless innings. Megan Hopton pitched the seventh inning.

The last time a Laker hit two home runs in the same game was April 19. 2008, when Jessica McNurlen went deep twice at Hillsdale.

The Lakers play their next three double-headers at home, beginning with a twinbill against No. 13 Bloomsburg Saturday, March 27 at 1 p.m.