Complete Box Score

LAKE WORTH, Fla. - The Mercyhurst baseball team exploded for 22 runs and 23 hits on Saturday afternoon and outslugged SUNY Canton 22-12 in Lake Worth, Florida. The win, which snapped a two-game losing streak, improved the Lakers to 4-2 on the young season.

Mercyhurst got four hits from Kolin McMillen and three hits apiece from Zak Blair, Jake Janeczko, and Colin Loughner as the Lakers easily had their biggest offensive output of the year.

The Lakers got on the board with two runs in the top of the second inning on a two-run single by Janeczko. Blair would follow in the top of the third inning with an RBI single which plated Shane Latshaw. Mercyhurst led 3-0 and then the fun began.

Janeczko had an RBI single in the top of the fourth inning, giving Mercyhurst a 4-0 advantage. Then, the Lakers exploded for nine runs on 10 hits in the fifth inning to take a 13-0 lead. In the fifth, Loughner had a two-run double to extend the lead to 6-0. Janeczko followed with an RBI single, starting a string of five consecutive run-scoring hits. McMillen, Latshaw, and Blair followed with run-scoring singles, then Ryan Siegel plated two runs with a double, giving the Lakers a 12-0 lead. Matt Adamczyk would drive in the final run of the inning on an RBI groundout.

Mercyhurst was not finished, as it scored two more runs in the sixth inning on an RBI double by McMillen and a run-scoring groundout by Blair.

But, then it was SUNY Canton's turn for a big inning, scoring eight times on just four hits in the bottom of the sixth inning, cutting the Mercyhurst lead to 15-8. Donald Bowes, who relieved Mercyhurst starter Matthew Jimenez, was touched up for seven runs, but just one earned in the inning. Mercyhurst made two errors during the inning, helping to open the floodgates.

Mercyhurst would plate two runs in the eighth innning to take a 17-8 lead. Blair drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and McMillen would later score on a wild pitch.

Canton would get a run back in the bottom half of the frame, but the Lakers would tack on five more runs in the top of the ninth. Anthony Eder, in his first at bat of the season, had the big blow during the inning with a two-run single.

SUNY Canton would score three in the bottom of the ninth to close out the scoring.

McMillen finished the afternoon 4-for-6 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Janeczko finished 3-for-4 with four runs scored and four RBIs, while Blair also finished with four runs batted in during his 3-for-6 performance.

What was overlooked with all the runs scored on the afternoon was the pitching performance by Matthew Jimenez. Jimenez pitched five-and-a-third hitless innings for the Lakers, allowing Mercyhurst to jump out to a huge lead. He walked two and struck out nine for his first win of the season, giving up an unearned run during his outing.

Bowes, Mike Wagner, and Jaasiel Rivera closed out the game for Mercyhurst by allowing 11 runs, which only four were earned.

Mercyhurst will play against Dominican College on Sunday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 p.m.