ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst baseball team completed its four-game sweep of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference foe Indiana (Pa.) by crushing the Crimson Hawks 25-3 in game one and 11-0 in game two on Saturday, March 25.
 
Saturday's doubleheader was played at Mercyhurst but IUP was the home team for both games. Poor field conditions at Indiana forced the second doubleheader to be played in Erie.
 
Recaps of both games are below.
 
Game 1: Mercyhurst 25, IUP 3
 
The Lakers tied a school-record by scoring 25 runs on their way to a 22-run rout in game one. The last time the Lakers scored 25 runs was in game one of a doubleheader back on March 1, 1999 against New Hampshire. Mercyhurst also won that game 25-3. 
 
Mercyhurst's lineup got off to a scorching-hot start by scoring 16 runs in the first two innings. With the Lakers already up 3-0 in the first inning, Dan Popio cleared the bases with a grand slam to put the Lakers ahead by seven.
 
Popio added an RBI-double in the second inning and finished 2-for-3 with five runs batted in and two runs scored.
 
Cameron Balego added a three-run homer in the second inning and ended up 2-for-3 with four RBI and three runs scored.
 
13 different Lakers drove in at least one run and all nine hitters in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit.
 
The run support was excessive for Lakers' starting pitcher Vincenzo Lucente who pitched in his first ever game for Mercyhurst. He walked seven batters, but did not allow a hit and struck out four in 4.2 innings in his first collegiate win.
 
The Lakers pitching staff flirted with a combined no-hitter until IUP had back-to-back doubles in the seventh inning.
 
Game 2: Mercyhurst 11, IUP 0
 
The Lakers offense continued its onslaught in game two and the pitching staff combined for a shutout in a 11-0 win.
 
Hitters 2-through-6 in the Mercyhurst lineup combined to hit 10-for-20 with ten RBI, nine runs scored, and two home runs. Chris Gonzalez had one round-tripper in the fourth inning that marked his third homer of the weekend.
 
Balego added his second three-run shot of the day with a blast to left-center in the seventh.
 
Nolan Freeman was the second Laker of the day to get his first start of the season and he too got his first win of the campaign. Freeman allowed just one hit in four complete innings. He had six strikeouts while walking four.
 
Relievers Jim Solano, Nick Kiener, and Jared Kapturasky each completed scoreless innings to preserve the shutout.
 
The Lakers (12-1, 4-0) take the field next when they host Notre Dame College in a rescheduled game on Tuesday, March 28 at 2 p.m.