The Mercyhurst baseball team takes on Pitt-Johnstown in a pair of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Division doubleheaders April 28-29. The Lakers travel to UPJ Friday with the action starting at 1 p.m. and host the Mountain Cats Saturday also at 1 p.m.

Scouting the Mountain Cats
Pitt-Johnstown enters the weekend with a 17-23 overall record, including a 7-13 mark in the PSAC West. UPJ ranks seventh in the division and has won three of its last four.
 
Pitt Johnstown has scored the most runs among all PSAC teams with 296. UPJ ranks second behind Mercyhurst in team batting average at .330 and is at or near the top of several other team offensive categories in the conference. 
 
Brett Hileman and Dan Clark are two of UPJ's most dangerous hitters. Hileman leads the team with a .423 average, 52 hits, and 47 runs batted in. Clark leads the Mountain Cats with seven home runs and a .759 slugging percentage.
 
Laker Outlook
The Lakers had their season-long win streak snapped at 18 games last weekend, but they were able to take three-of-four games against Erie rival Gannon. Mercyhurst leads the PSAC West with an 18-2 conference record and a 31-3 overall mark.
 
Mercyhurst's pitching depth has been one of the main reason's for its success this season. The NCAA released a story featuring the best starting rotations in Division II on Friday, April 21, including the Lakers. Mercyhurst pitchers have consistently struck out opposing batters this season. They rank second nationally as a staff with 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings. Sophomore starting pitcher Chris Vallimont ranks second nationally at 15.02 K/9.
 
The Lakers lineup has also been powerful all season long. In addition to being ranked third nationally in team batting average at .344, the Lakers are tied for 20^th in the country with 1.24 home runs per game.

National and Regional Rankings Update
Listed below are the updated rankings for Mercyhurst baseball in multiple Division II national and regional polls. This is the first week the NCAA has released its regional rankings, the official rankings used to seed teams for regional tournaments. The Lakers hold the top spot in the Atlantic Region poll. 
 

	Collegiate Baseball	NCBWA	D2Baseball	Perfect Game	NCAA (Atl. Region)	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	27-2
April 17-23	#2	#1	#1	#5		#1	#1	31-3
April 24-30	#3	#1	#1	#5	#1	#1	#1

RV – Received Votes; NR – Not Ranked; Blank – No Release/Update; * – Indicates record at conclusion of week
 
Coming Up Next
Mercyhurst completes its regular season schedule next week with a nine-inning game at home versus Alderson Broaddus on May 2 and a pair of doubleheaders against PSAC West opponent California (Pa.) on May 5-6.