WEST LAWN, Pa. -- The 18th-ranked Mercyhurst baseball team defeated 22nd-ranked East Stroudsburg, 6-3, in an NCAA Atlantic Regional contest on Thursday at Ted Palka Park.

Austin Alonge and Camron Balego had three-hit games while Daniel Elliott drove in two runs. Colin McKee was the winning pitcher for Mercyhurst (41-12) and Matthew Jaskolka got the save.

Alonge finished 3-for-4 with a double and two runs. Balego was 3-for-4 with a double, run and RBI. Elliott added a 2-for-4 game, Hank Morrison scored twice and Jimmy Latona tripled.

The Lakers took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on RBI singles by Elliott and Balego before East Stroudsburg's Conner Crookham tied the contest at 2-all with a two-run triple in the fifth.

Mercyhurst snagged the lead for good in the sixth. Elliott and Sabatino DiNardo III had RBI singles.

ESU's Ian Allen hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh, trimming the Laker lead to 4-3. MU responded with single runs in the seventh and eight innings on a Chris Gonzalez RBI single and Latona RBI triple, respectively.

McKee worked six innings on the mound for Mercyhurst, giving up two rus on four hits. He had seven strikeouts and four walks before giving way to Jaskolka, who gave up one run on three hits in three innings of labor. Jaskolka recorded three strikeouts and one walk.

Matt Festa was the losing pitcher for East Stroudsburg. He had 10 strikeouts and one hit batsman, but gave up 12 hits in eight innings. Six runs were scored against Festa; four were earned.

Robert Bennie went 2-for-5 at the plate for ESU. Drew Hercik and Jay Young added doubles.

With the victory, the Lakers are now scheduled for a 7 p.m. contest against No. 17 West Chester on Friday. WCU defeated Chowan in its opener on Thursday, 12-6.