Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Mercyhurst University baseball team dropped a conference doubleheader on Friday afternoon against the Bald Eagles of Lock Haven University. The hosts overpowered Laker pitching in game one, knocking off Mercyhurst 13-4, then ended senior Ben Rawding's winning streak in game two, edging Mercyhurst 4-3. With the losses, the Lakers dropped to 19-12 overall and 4-6 in the PSAC West. Meanwhile, Lock Haven improved to 11-12 overall and 6-4 in conference play.

Rawding certainly did not have his best stuff on Friday, as the senior southpaw allowed five hits and walked five in six innings of work, throwing just over half of his pitches for strikes (64-of-115). However, the Laker defense did not help Rawding, comitting four errors in game two and causing three of the four Lock Haven runs to be unearned.

The senior's winning streak came to an end at 19 consecutive decisions with a victory, five more than the old PSAC record of 14 held by Steve Micknich of Mansfield, who didn't lose a decision from April 2, 1992 to April 12, 1993. His 19-game streak fell two shy of the NCAA record of 21 held by two different pitchers.

Rawding, who had not lost since allowing two runs in a complete-game, 2-1 loss to Slippery Rock on April 29, 2011, dropped to 7-1 on the season, but lowered his season's ERA to 1.69.

Game one showed promise when the Lakers jumped out to a 3-0 lead after scoring three times in the top of the second inning against Lock Haven starter, Nick Cummings.

Mercyhurst put two runners on base with one out after back-to-back singles by sophomores Jake Marinelli and Ryan Siegel. Then, with two outs, junior Anthony Tomasone doubled down the left field line, plating the first run of the inning. Freshman Stephen Scaccia followed with a two-run double, giving the Lakers a 3-0 lead.

However, in the bottom of the second, things imploded for Mercyhurst starter, Dan Altavilla. The sophomore allowed a leadoff homerun to Austin Botts, who cut the Laker lead to 3-1. Then, three consecutive singles and a hit batter plated another run and loaded the bases with nobody out. After a strikeout, a roller to shortstop Zak Blair scored the tying run, leaving runners at the corners with two outs. But, the first pitch to Ryan Henritzy proved to be the big blow of the game, as he launched a three-run home run to left field, giving Lock Haven a 6-3 advantage.

Lock Haven would score four more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 10-3 lead. Altavilla recorded the first out of the inning, then allowed a single, back-to-back doubles, and another single to end his afternoon. Junior Dan Parker came on in relief and allowed two more runs to score - both of which were charged to Altavilla.

All told, the sophomore went three and one-third innings and allowed 10 runs, all earned, on 11 hits. He walked one and struck out seven. Altavilla dropped to 3-4 on the year and his ERA ballooned to 6.28 on the season.

Lock Haven would score three more in the fifth off of a combination of Parker and freshman Kyle Toma. Senior Donald Bowes pitched a scoreless sixth inning, leaving the bases loaded.

Mercyhurst would get a run back in the seventh on the first collegiate home run from freshman Hank Morrison. He launched a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall for the team's first round-tripper of the season - it was the Lakers' 31st game of the year.

The Lakers were outhit 17-7 in the opener, with seven different Lakers recording one hit in game one.

In game two, Mercyhurst again took a lead, scoring a run in both the second and third innings.

In the second inning, Marinelli led off with a walk and then was sacrificed to second by freshman Joel Yeagley. Morrison followed with a single, putting runners at the corners with one out. Siegel then lifted a flyball to centerfield, plating Marinelli for the first run of the game.

In the third, Yeagley plated a run with an RBI groundout, beating out a potential double play ball, to give the Lakers a 2-0 advantage.

However, the Bald Eagles came back with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the third to tie the contest at 2-2. Josh Jones led off the frame with a walk, was sacrificed to second, then scored on an RBI single by Henritzy. Then, Scott Zuback singled to center and the ball was misplayed by Siegel in the outfield, allowing Zuback to advance to third and Henritzy to score.

In the fifth, Lock Haven would use two Mercyhurst errors, a passed ball, and a wild pitch to take a 4-2 lead against Rawding.

The Lakers would threaten to keep Rawding's streak intact in both the sixth and seventh innings. Mercyhurst got singles from Morrison and Scaccia in the sixth, putting runners at first and second with one out. However, sophomore Kolin McMillen flew out and junior Joe Pantano struck out looking to end the inning. In the seventh, Blair led off the inning with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on an RBI single from Brendan Cox, cutting the Lock Haven lead to 4-3. However, Aaron Lidgett came on in relief and retired the final three batters, in order, to close out the game.

Mercyhurst outhit Lock Haven in game two by an 8-5 count. Morrison had two of Mercyhurst's eight safeties.

The same two teams will battle at the Mercyhurst Baseball Field on Saturday afternoon. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.