The Mercyhurst baseball team takes on Clarion this weekend in a pair of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Division doubleheaders on April 14-15. The Lakers travel to Clarion on Friday and host the Golden Eagles Saturday with the action starting at 1 p.m. both days.
 
Scouting The Golden Eagles
Clarion enters the weekend at 7-18 overall and 3-9 in PSAC West play. The Golden Eagles have struggled recently, dropping their last seven games including their latest doubleheader on Tuesday against PSAC East opponent Bloomsburg.
 
Clarion has one regular player hitting above .400 in Tyler Falk. He leads the Golden Eagles with 30 hits, eight doubles, and 15 walks drawn. John Finke has as many runs batted in as he does hits this season with 18.
 
Laker Outlook
The Lakers swept Slippery Rock last weekend to establish a strong hold on the top spot in the PSAC West Division at 23-2 overall and 11-1 in conference. Mercyhurst also improved to 12-1 in non-conference games with an 8-3 victory over Notre Dame College Tuesday.
 
Depth on the mound and in the lineup has propelled the Lakers to the top of the standings. Freshman pitcher Vincenzo Lucente was named PSAC West Pitcher of the Week last week after pitching his first-career complete-game shutout. Connor Ryan also picked up his third win in as many starts in Tuesday's game.
 
Drew Delsignore is riding a nine-game hitting streak during which he has driven in 15 runs with four doubles. Freshman Jared Kapturasky has had success since starting five of the last six games for Mercyhurst. He is 6-for-15 with two home runs.

National and Regional Rankings Update
Listed below are the updated rankings for Mercyhurst baseball in multiple Division II national and regional polls. The Lakers moved up to number two overall in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, the same poll generally used by the NCAA. They also received the most first-place votes in the poll (8) and only trail North Georgia in the standings.  
 

	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	18-2
April 3-9	#9	#4	#1	#7	#1	#1	22-2
April 10-16	#6	#2	#1	#5	#1	#1

RV – Received Votes; NR – Not Ranked; Blank – No Release/Update; * – Indicates record at conclusion of week
 
Coming Up Next
The Lakers host Lake Erie College Tuesday, April 18 at 2 p.m. before taking on cross-town rival Gannon in a four-game set April 21-22. Mercyhurst hosts Friday's doubleheader while heading to Gannon on Saturday.