Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. - The Mercyhurst University baseball team got its 2014 season underway over the weekend with three victories in four games during a mini-southern trip to Virginia. The Lakers open the season with a 3-1 record after posting wins over Post University, West Chester, and Mansfield. Mercyhurst's only hiccup came against #17 Wilmington University in the team's first game on Sunday.

All told, the Laker bats exploded for 34 runs in the four games, including 15 runs in the team's season opening victory over Post. Mercyhurst batted .331 as a team in the four games and the Lakers' pitching staff allowed opponents to hit just .208. The Lakers outscored their opponents 34-21 in the four games, which included a 7-0 setback to the 17th-ranked Wildcats of Wilmington.

Redshirt junior Ryan Siegel led the Lakers with a .500 batting average (9-for-18) with four runs batted in and six runs scored. Junior transfer Giancarlo Saia had an impressive opening weekend in a Mercyhurst uniform, posting a .417 average (5-for-12) with the team's only home run and a team-leading five runs batted in. He also led with a .588 on-base percentage and a .750 slugging percentage. Senior Anthony Tomasone (5-for-12), senior Joe Pantano (6-for-15), sophomore Brendan Cox (7-for-18), and sophomore transfer Dan Popio (4-for-11) also had batting averages over .300 during the weekend.

On the mound, the Lakers finished with a team earned run average of 3.60, limiting opponents to a .208 batting average, while striking out 45 batters in 35 innings. Senior Tanner Delahoy had a four-inning save against Mansfield on Sunday, allowing just one hit in his four innings of work while striking out six. Senior Adam Curyto and redshirt junior Jon Klein led the Lakers with seven punch-outs over the weekend.

GAME 1
Mercyhurst 15, Post 9
Mercyhurst snapped a scoreless tie with six runs in the top of the fourth inning and added two more in the fifth for an 8-0 lead. However, the Eagles responded with five runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it a game. But, the Lakers added two more in the sixth and four in the seventh to take a 14-6 lead and held on from there. Brendan Cox led the Lakers with three hits in six at-bats while Joe Pantano, Ryan Siegel, Giancarlo Saia, Anthony Tomasone, and Angel Martinez had two hits apiece in the win.

Junior Dan Altavilla started and could not get out of the fifth inning. He allowed four earned runs on five hits in 4.2 innings, walking three and striking out six. Sophomore Jake Hall recorded the victory out of the bullpen, allowing just a hit batsman in 1.2 innings, striking out three.

Mercyhurst had 14 hits and walked 11 times in plating 15 runs in the season opener.

GAME 2
Mercyhurst 11, West Chester 3
The Lakers kept the bats going with another double-digit explosion on offense in the nightcap on Saturday against West Chester - a team two years removed from winning the NCAA Division II National Championship. Ryan Siegel led the Laker offense by going 5-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and three runs batted in.

Mercyhurst scored all 11 of its runs in a five-inning stretch from the third to the seventh. Joe Pantano, Brendan Cox, Dan Popio, and Anthony Tomasone each had two hits in the victory with Pantano crossing the dish a team-leading three times.

Junior Jon Klein pitched the first four innings and earned the victory, allowing one earned run on two hits while striking out seven. Senior Adam Curyto went the next four and gave up one run on one hit while also striking out seven. Sophomore Colin McKee finished the night with a perfect ninth, striking out two. Laker pitching struck out 16 Golden Rams in the victory.

GAME 3
#17 Wilmington 7, Mercyhurst 0
After scoring 26 runs in two games on Saturday, the Lakers were blanked by the 17th-ranked Wildcats to start Sunday action. Mercyhurst could muster just six hits at the plate, with only one hit, a double by junior Jake Marinelli, going for extra bases.

Sophomore Cam Knott made the start and allowed six runs (four earned) on seven hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out four. Junior Joe Gnacinski saw his first action in a Laker uniform and tossed the final four innings. He allowed one unearned run on two hits over the final four innings, walking three and striking out three.

GAME 4
Mercyhurst 8, Mansfield 2
Mercyhurst scored three runs in the first inning and never looked back to finish the weekend on a positive note. Giancarlo Saia hit the Lakers' first home run of the season, a two-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth. He finished 1-for-3 with three runs scored and three RBIs in the victory. Ryan Siegel and Dan Popio each had two hits. Popio also drove in a pair of runs.

Seniors Jon Corbi and Tanner Delahoy combined on a four-hitter while striking out eight in the win. Corbi tossed the first five, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out two. Delahoy earned his first save of the season, throwing the last four innings. He allowed one hit and three walks in his scoreless outing, striking out six.