Written by Matthew Brancato

ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst University softball team split a doubleheader at the Mercyhurst Softball Field in Erie, Pa. against Gannon University Saturday afternoon. The Lakers [9-15, 3-6 PSAC] took game one of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference [PSAC] Western Division matchup by a score of 6-4, while game two saw a furious rally from the Lakers fall short in extra innings as the Golden Knights [15-6, 9-1 PSAC] pulled out the victory 12-9.

Gannon struck first in the third inning of game one as an RBI double by the Golden Knights' Alyssa Bates drove in the runner from second to give them a 1-0 lead. Mercyhurst wasted no time answering back as they put up a three run inning in the bottom of the third.

After a leadoff double by Shannon Minihane, Rachel DiBartolomeo would groundout to short, which advanced Minihane to third. Following a strikeout by Taylor Jezuit, Becky Malaga singled to center, scoring Minihane to knot the game up at one. Courtney Brothers followed up with a single of her own to advance Malaga to second. Alissa Petrosoniak joined the hit parade with a single of her own to load the bases with two outs. Kayla Larson ripped a single into center field, scoring Malaga and Brothers, to give the Lakers a two run lead.

Starting pitcher Annie Truelove followed up the offensive flurry with some defensive magic, not allowing the Golden Knights' to record any hits in the fourth inning. As the Lakers held the lead, 3-1, in the top of the fifth, Truelove was relieved of her duties, pitching four innings, allowing four hits and one earned run. Senior right-hander Alexandra Puckly came in pitch for the Lakers.

Puckly got off to a shaky start in relief duty as Jess Rectenwald started the inning with a leadoff single. Jackie Martinez advanced the leadoff runner to second with a sacrifice bunt followed by a Jen Moran strikeout on which Rectenwald advanced to third. Bates jacked a homer on the next at-bat to tie the game up at 3-3.

The Lakers took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth and never looked back as Malaga and Brothers each singled to the outfield. Larson singled to right field to drive in a run and put runners at the corner giving Mercyhurst a 4-3 lead. Tawny Godin and Francesca Costanzo both followed up with RBI singles of their own giving the Lakers the lead for good 6-3.

Puckly would hold Gannon to two hits and one earned run over the final two innings. Puckly received the win, moving her record to 4-6. Olivia Gumbita took only her second loss on the season, moving to 7-2.

Game two saw the Lakers fall just short in a furious rally in extra innings. Both teams' bats came alive in the second game of the doubleheader. Gannon once again struck first as Bates jacked a two run homer in the first inning to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead.

Mercyhurst would strike back in the bottom of the second starting with Godin advancing to first after being hit by a pitch. Both Costanzo and Minhane would follow up with singles to load the bases with two outs. DiBartolomeo jacked a single of her own driving in two runs to tie the game at 2-2.

The Golden Knights would answer back in a huge way, scoring 4 runs in the third inning. After singles by both Rectenwald and Moran, Bates reached first on balls to load the bases. Katie Dunn followed up the walk with a two run double to give Gannon a 4-2 lead. Truelove would enter the game in relief of starting pitcher Heather Nye with runners on second and third.

An RBI fly ball and single by Alexa Archambeault and Rachel deGuia respectively gave the Golden Knights a 6-2 lead. Gannon added another run on a Martinez homer in the fourth inning to streatch the lead to 7-2.

Mercyhurst showed signs of life in the bottom of the fourth when Godin reached first on a fielder's choice and then advanced to second base on a passed ball. Minihane jacked a single into right field to score Godin. Minihane advanced to second on a wild pitch and was able to score from second on an error cutting the Gannon lead to 7-4.
 
The Lakers continued the rally in the fifth as Malaga reached first on a leadoff error. Melissa Woods was substituted in to run for Malaga and was able to steal second. Larson singled into center field to bring Woods in from second. After a Godin single and a Costanzo walk to load the bases, Minihane ripped a single to left field to bring both Larson and Godin around to score. The Lakers tied the game at 7-7 heading into the sixth.

The Lakers took an 8-7 lead in the bottom of the sixth as Brothers hit a solo homerun into deep left field.

Gannon was able to knot the game up at 8-8 in the top of the seventh to send the game into extra innings. Following a walk by Moran and a single into left by Bates, Dunn ripped a double into left field to bring home the tieing run.

After two scoreless extra innings the Golden Knights busted the game wide open in the top of the tenth as Archambeault got the scoring started following up a Dunn walk with a double into center field to give Gannon a 9-8 lead. deGuia ripped a shot of her own into right field for an RBI single to increase the lead to two. A passed ball and a throwing error allowed Archambeault to score from third and deGuia to advance to third. Allie Salerno grounded out to short, scoring deGuia and giving the Golden Knights a 12-8 lead.

Mercyhurst struck back quickly in the bottom of the tenth as Minihane drove a single right back at the pitcher to bring in one run. The comeback attempt quickly fizzled out as DiBartolomeo, Jezuit and Malaga all consecutively grounded out to end the game.

Following the split with Gannon, the Lakers improve to 9-15 overall, 3-6 in the PSAC. Gannon moves to 15-6 and 9-1 in the PSAC.

Mercyhurst's next game will be Sunday at Seton Hill with the first pitch of the double header slated for 1:00 p.m. Live stats and audio for Sunday's twinbill will be available at the following links.

Live Stats | Audio