Box Score

LANTANA, Fla. - Senior lefthander Ben Rawding of the Mercyhurst University baseball team broke the PSAC record for most consecutive pitching victories on Saturday, as the Lakers concluded their spring trip with a 6-1 victory over Queens (N.Y.) College. Mercyhurst returns home with a 6-7 overall record on the season, while the Knights are still looking for their first win of the year. They dropped to 0-4.

Rawding, a native of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, won his 15th consecutive decision on Saturday and has not lost since allowing two runs in a complete-game, 2-1 loss to Slippery Rock on April 29, 2011. He broke the old conference record of 14 consecutive wins that was held by Mansfield's Steve Micknich, who didn't lose a decision from April 2, 1992 to April 12, 1993.

The senior is 19-1 in his last 20 decisions, covering his sophomore and junior seasons, plus his three starts this year. All told, Rawding is 24-5 in a Mercyhurst uniform.

The southpaw was dealing all afternoon against the Knights, allowing just one run on three hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out nine to improve to 3-0 this season. All 18 of the outs recorded by Rawding were either by strikeout or groundout.

After a scoreless first two innings, Mercyhurst provided the offense Rawding would need by plating two runs in the top of the third and two more in the Laker half of the fourth to take a 4-0 advantage.

In the third, junior Anthony Tomasone led off by getting hit with a pitch. He advanced to second on a single by sophomore Ryan Siegel, and then both advanced into scoring position when junior Joe Pantano laid down a sacrifice bunt. Senior Zak Blair came through with a one-out single, driving home both Tomasone and Siegel for the first two runs of the contest.

The Lakers would add two more in the fourth. Freshman Brendan Cox led off with a walk and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Jake Marinelli. Freshman Hank Morrison drove home Cox with an RBI double, giving the Lakers a 3-0 lead. Junior Adam Urschel sacrificed Morrison ahead 90 feet and then, with two outs, Tomasone singled to drive home Morrison for the Lakers' fourth run.

Mercyhurst added another run in the fifth inning on an RBI double by freshman Joel Yeagley, who drove home Pantano after he led off the inning with a walk.

Queens got its only run in the bottom of the sixth inning off of Rawding. Nick LoBello was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, then advanced to third on back-to-back wild pitches. He came home to score on an RBI groundout by Steven Varela.

Mercyhurst would get the run back in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Cox.

Freshman Cam Knott pitched a perfect seventh inning in relief of Rawding. Junior Jon Corbi came on in the eighth and allowed a hit in his inning of work. Junior Tanner Delahoy finished with a perfect ninth frame.

Blair had three hits in five trips, scoring a run and driving in two. He brought his season average up to .408 with the performance on Saturday. Cox chipped in with a pair of hits as the Lakers outhit the Knights 10-4.

The Lakers have concluded their spring trip and will next be at Salem International in Salem, West Virginia on Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1:00 p.m., and then will play a single, nine-inning game on Sunday, also at 1:00 p.m.