Mercyhurst 6, Gannon 1
Gannon 4, Mercyhurst 0

ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst College baseball team split a doubleheader with city-rival Gannon on Wednesday afternoon, taking the first game 6-1 before falling in the nightcap 4-0. 

The Lakers and Golden Knights split the season series as Mercyhurst moves to 9-11 on the year, 4-4 in the PSAC West while Gannon improves to 9-10 overall, 5-2 in the Western Division. 

In the opener, Jordan Backes won his second-straight start to move to 3-1 on the year, holding the Golden Knights to just three hits in the seven-inning outing where he allowed just one earned run while striking out seven batters. 

The Lakers' offense jumped on Gannon starter Greg Radwan for two runs in the opening frame after Craig Denman opened with a one-out single. Kevin McCall followed with another single to put runners on first and third before Ethan Santora added an RBI-single to plate Denman. On the same play, an error by the Golden Knights centerfielder Kyle Harpster allowed McCall to score. 

Neither team would do much offensively until the top of the fifth inning when the Lakers exploded for four runs behind McCall's two-run bomb to right field, his first of the season, plating Denman who had reached on an error. 

Santora finished the opener a perfect 3-for-3 with an RBI while McCall added a 2-for-4 performance with two RBI and two runs scored. Denman and Adam Schlessel picked up the Lakers other hits. 

Radwan (3-1) went the distance for the Golden Knights in the loss, allowing six runs, two earned, on seven hits while fanning 10 Lakers. 

In the second-half of the twinbill, the Golden Knights relied on a three-run third inning paced by four straight-singles, including Radwan's RBI single for the game's first run. Two batters later, Jeff Jones' two out, two-RBI single accounted for the inning's total. 

Golden Knights starter Brian Gunnell earned the win to move to 3-2 on the year after holding the Lakers to just four hits in six innings of work. 

Picking up hits for the Lakers were Jonathan Keppler, McCall, Greg Turk and Schlessel.
Rookie southpaw Ben Rawding notched the loss for Mercyhurst, moving to 1-3 on the year. 

Next up for the Lakers is a weekend series against Indiana (Pa.) beginning Friday, March 26 at IUP. Mercyhurst will host the Crimson Hawks on Saturday. First-pitch for both days is set for 1 p.m.