The Mercyhurst baseball team meets Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Division foe Seton Hill in a pair of doubleheaders to be played over the weekend on April 1-2.
 
Originally, the doubleheader scheduled at Seton Hill was Friday, March 30, but it has been moved to Sunday due to a poor weather forecast. Mercyhurst hosts Saturday's twin bill at 1 p.m.
 
Scouting the Griffins
Seton Hilll enters the weekend at 13-7 overall and 2-2 in the PSAC after splitting four games with Gannon last weekend. The Griffins have ranked as high as third in the Atlantic Region in regional polls from multiple outlets this season.
 
The Griffins starting rotation is lead by senior Zack Martinelli and junior Perry DellaValle. Martinelli has thrown 30 innings in five starts with a 2.70 earned-run average and 22 strikeouts.
 
DellaValle has only one start this season after starting the year with an injury, but he has yet to allow an earned run in seven innings of work. He is coming off a 2016 season where he was 9-1 with a 1.79 ERA in 90.2 innings pitched.
 
The Griffins lineup features four players that have played in all 20 games and at least a .333 batting average. Craig Lewis leads the quartet with a .405 batting average, three home runs, and a .622 slugging percentage.
 
Laker Outlook
Mercyhurst (13-1) enters on an 11-game win streak and has outscored opponents 69-12 in its last five games. The Lakers latest win was Tuesday, March 28 when they took down Notre Dame College 17-1.
 
Jimmy Latona currently leads all of Division II in batting average at .643 (27-for-42). He also holds a slugging percentage of 1.048 and an on-base percentage of .724.
 
The Lakers lineup leads the PSAC in team batting average (.363), slugging percentage (.589), and on-base percentage (.470).
 
Mercyhurst is at the top of the conference in several pitching categories as well. The Lakers team ERA is under 2.00 at 1.80 and opponents are hitting just .199 against Lakers pitchers. Mercyhurst has only allowed 21 earned runs this season. The next closest is West Chester at 45.

National and Regional Rankings Update
Listed below are the updated rankings for Mercyhurst baseball in multiple Division II national and regional polls. D2 Baseball News ranked Mercyhurst number one in the nation this week. Links for each poll are provided in the table below.
 

	Collegiate Baseball	NCBWA	D2Baseball	Perfect Game	NCBWA (Atl. Region)	D2Baseball  (Atl. Region)	Lakers Record
Preseason	#9	#12	#7	#16	#2	#2	0-0
Feb. 13-19			#6			#2	2-1
Feb. 20-26		#14		#16	#2		5-1
Feb. 27-March 5	#12	#13	#6	#13	#2	#2	7-1
March 6-12	#12	#8	#5	#13	#1	#2	8-1
March 13-19	#11	#6	#3	#13	#1	#2	8-1
March 20-26	#15	#6	#3	#13	#1	#2	12-1
March 27-April 2	#13	#6	#1	#12	#1	#1

RV – Received Votes; NR – Not Ranked; Blank – No Release/Update
 
Coming Up Next
Mercyhurst takes on Slippery Rock in another PSAC West Division showdown spanning four games. The first doubleheader will be at Mercyhurst on Friday, April 7 at 1 p.m. with the second set also starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 8 down at Slippery Rock.