Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Mercyhurst University baseball team got another dominating pitching performance from junior Dan Altavilla as the Lakers defeated Bloomsburg University, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon. Mercyhurst would fall later in the day to 11th-ranked Grand Valley State by a 9-4 margin to conclude the team's southern trip to Nashville, Tennessee. The Lakers will return to Erie with an 8-4 overall record as they get set to begin conference play next weekend.

Altavilla, who was coming off of a complete-game, ten-strikeout shutout against Chowan in his last outing, followed up that performance by tossing eight innings and allowing one run on five hits (all singles) against the Huskies. He walked one and struck out nine to improve to 2-0 on the season. Senior Adam Curyto pitched around a walk in the ninth inning for his first save of the year.

In his last two starts, the righthander has pitched 15 innings and has allowed one run on eight hits. He has walked one and struck out 19 during the two-game stretch.

Sophomore Hank Morrison provided the big blow on offense with a two-run triple to left center field in a three-run bottom half of the eighth inning, which snapped a 1-1 tie. Senior Anthony Tomasone followed with an RBI single to left which drove home Morrison to provide an extra run of insurance for Curyto in the top of the ninth.

The Huskies scored their only run of the game in the top of the first inning on a fielder's choice RBI from Corey Balada which drove home Eric Frain.

The game remained 1-0 in favor of Bloomsburg until the bottom of the fifth inning when senior Joe Pantano tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI single back up the middle, driving home Morrison.

Pantano went 4-for-4 at the dish with an RBI while Morrison went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in. Tomasone also had a pair of hits and an RBI in the winning effort.

Altavilla threw 110 pitches in his eight innings of work, getting nine groundball outs and nine strikeouts in the victory. Five different Huskies were able to get on base via a hit in the loss.

Game two featured the 11th-ranked Lakers of Grand Valley and the Lakers of Mercyhurst, who sent redshirt junior Jon Klein to the bump for his third start of the season. Unfortunately for Klein and Mercyhurst, the game went south in the bottom of the second inning when Grand Valley State plated eight runs en route to the 9-4 victory.

Grand Valley scored eight runs on five hits and three walks and also had the luxury of scoring four unearned runs in the inning thanks to a pair of Mercyhurst errors. Aaron Overbeck had a three-run homerun to start the inning and was later followed by a two-run single from Giancarlo Brugnoni, proving to be the big blows of the frame.

Klein settled down and pitched the next two innings without further damage. The righthander would be taken out in favor of sophomore Cam Knott in the fifth inning and Grand Valley greeted him with a run to take a 9-0 advantage.

Mercyhurst clawed back into the game with all four of its runs coming in the top of the sixth, cutting the deficit to 9-4. Sophomore Dan Popio and senior Anthony Tomasone had run-scoring doubles in the inning while junior Giancarlo Saia and sophomore Dan Karstedt had RBI groundouts.

Mercyhurst loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning with just one out, but back-to-back strikeouts of junior Ryan Siegel and sophomore Brendan Cox ended the thought of a comeback.

Klein pitched four innings and allowed eight runs (four earned) on six hits. He walked six and struck out four to drop to 1-1 on the season. Knott pitched the next two innings and allowed a run on two hits. Sophomores Colin McKee and Ben Nolan pitched the final two innings.

Mercyhurst is scheduled to entertain Clarion University at the Mercyhurst University Baseball Field on Friday, March 21 for its PSAC-opening doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.