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ERIE, Pa. - Leave it to a senior on Senior Day to clinch a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament berth for the fifth consecutive season.

Minutes after being honored during Senior Day festivities between games, redshirt senior righthander Matthew Jimenez threw his first-ever complete game and his first-ever shutout in game two of Saturday afternoon's doubleheader, leading the Lakers to a 4-0 victory over crosstown-rival Gannon University and helping Mercyhurst earn a sweep in the process and clinch a spot in the PSAC Tournament for the fifth consecutive season. Mercyhurst earned a 2-1 victory in the opener and improved to 30-16 overall and finished conference play with a 15-9 mark. Gannon dropped to 21-15 overall and 13-7 in the conference.

Jimenez improved to 6-5 on the season with his six-hit shutout. He did not walk a batter and struck out four.

The native of Elma, New York was perfect through four and one-third innings before allowing a single to Gannon's Aaron Cox with one out in the fifth. The Golden Knights would threaten in the fifth, adding two more hits in the inning, before Jimenez got a flyout to left field off the bat of Dylan Schwegler to close out the inning.

The visitors threatened again in the seventh, but Jimenez sealed his first-ever complete-game shutout after retiring Schwegler on a fielder's choice groundout with runners at the corners and two outs.

Jimenez received all the run support he needed in the bottom of the second inning, when Mercyhurst broke through against Gannon's game two starter Matt Wilwohl. Sophomore Ryan Siegel singled up the middle with one out and then stole second base as freshman Hank Morrison struck out. Junior Anthony Tomasone drew a walk to keep the inning alive for freshman Stephen Scaccia, who launched a ground-rule double to left center field to drive home Siegel.

Mercyhurst added another run in the bottom of the third inning to take a 2-0 lead. Junior Joe Pantano struck out to start the inning, but reached base when the ball skipped away from Gannon catcher Nico Baldelli. Pantano then took second when Baldelli's throw sailed over the first baseman's head. After senior Zak Blair grounded out to second, which advanced Pantano to third, freshman Brendan Cox reached on an infield single to third base that Pantano was unable to run on. With runners at the corners and one out, Mercyhurst executed a perfect hit-and-run and sophomore Jake Marinelli found a hole where the shortstop would have normally been to drive home Pantano.

The hosts scored twice in the fourth on a squeeze bunt by Pantano that drove home Tomasone, who had led off the inning with a single. Blair followed with a run-scoring triple to right center field, which scored sophomore Kolin McMillen who reached on a fielder's choice.

But, the second game belonged to Jimenez, who needed just 88 pitches to go the distance on Saturday. Of his 88 pitches, 63 were for strikes. He retired four batters via strikeout and ten more Gannon hitters via groundout.

Wilwohl took the loss in game two, dropping to 2-5 on the season for the Golden Knights. He went four innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits. He walked three and struck out three. David Spaeder came on in relief and held the Lakers scoreless for two innings, allowing two hits.

Mercyhurst outhit Gannon 8-6 in game two, with Siegel the only Laker with a multiple hit game. He finished the second game going 2-for-3 with a run scored and a stolen base.

Game one featured a pitcher's duel between Mercyhurst redshirt sophomore Jon Klein and Gannon's Matt Tobin.

The visitors scored their only run of the afternoon on an RBI single by Michael Tomko in the top of the first inning against Klein. That, however, would be all Gannon could muster against the righthander from Cheektowaga, New York, despite outhitting the Lakers 9-2 in the opener.

The Golden Knights would leave at least one runner on base in five of the seven innings, but Klein was able to pitch out of jams. The nine hits allowed were a season-high against Klein. However, he struck out eight Gannon hitters, which was also a season-high. In fact, the Gannon 7-8-9 hitters went 0-for-9 with five strikeouts in the contest.

Mercyhurst, which had just two hits in the opener, broke through against Tobin in the bottom of th fourth inning. The Golden Knight southpaw retired Blair and Cox on groundouts to start the inning. He then walked Marinelli on four pitches and plunked Siegel with an offspeed delivery, putting runners at first and second for Morrison. The freshman delivered, launching the first pitch he saw in the at bat to center field that hit the base of the fence to drive home both Marinelli and Siegel to give the Lakers a 2-1 advantage.

Those would prove to be the final runs of the opener, despite Gannon's best efforts to come back. In the top of the sixth inning, Gannon had three hits but could not score. Tomko started the inning with a single down the left field line that was bobbled slightly by Tomasone in left field. The Laker junior recovered and threw a strike to second, gunning down Tomko for the first out. The Golden Knights would get two more hits in the inning but could not score.

In the top of the seventh, Gannon had two more singles with two outs, but Klein completed the outing by retiring Tomko on a popout to Marinelli, the Laker catcher.

Klein walked one and struck out eight to improve to 6-2 on the season. Tobin suffered the hard-luck loss, dropping to 3-4 on the season. He allowed two runs on two hits in his complete game, walking four and striking out four.

Marinelli had the other Laker hit in the opener, a double to left center in the bottom of the second inning.

Mercyhurst will travel to North Canton, Ohio for a non-conference doubleheader against the Cavaliers of Walsh University on Tuesday, April 30 to conclude the regular season. The doubleheader is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. The PSAC Tournament is set to begin on Wednesday, May 8 in Johnstown, Pa.