ERIE, Pa. – The ninth-ranked Mercyhurst baseball team extended its win streak to nine games with two more Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) wins Friday afternoon.
 
The Lakers were the road team against Indiana (Pa.) for both games despite playing the doubleheader at Mercyhurst Baseball Field. The Lakers held on for a 3-2 win in game one before taking down the Crimson Hawks 9-6 in the second game.
 
Recaps to both games are listed below:
 
Mercyhurst 3, IUP 2
 
Chris Vallimont struck out 15 opposing hitters in his second-straight start as the Lakers held on to win a 3-2 game that included a bizarre final half-inning.
 
Vallimont was dominant for most of the afternoon and had a no-hitter entering the final inning. IUP's Matt Swartz broke the no-hit bid with a single in the bottom of the seventh and the Crimson Hawks eventually loaded the bases with no outs.
 
Vallimont exited the game after walking in a run and was replaced by Adam Jeannette. The next hitter, IUP's Ted DeSanti, ripped a line drive at shortstop Alex O'Donnell who mishandled the ball but still caused IUP base runners to freeze. After a wild sequence with the Lakers throwing the ball all across the infield, IUP managed to score a run to cut the lead to one but had two baserunners called out in the process.
 
Jeannette proceeded to strike out IUP pinch-hitter Anthony Rigous to end the game and pick up his first career save.
 
Mercyhurst did all of its damage offensively in the third inning thanks to a pair of RBI knocks by Drew Delsignore and Daniel Elliott. Matthew Schneider also had a base hit couple with an IUP error that allowed Elliott to score the eventual game-winning run.
 
Vallimont's final stat line in his fourth win of the season (4-1) included 15 strikeouts, one hit, four walks, and one earned run in six-plus innings of work.
 
Mercyhurst 9, IUP 6
 
Three runs in the final three innings and a strong performance from the Laker bullpen allowed the Lakers to take game two by a three-run margin.
 
Mercyhurst jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning off Daniel Elliott's two-run home run and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Hunter Snyder.
 
After IUP scored twice in the second inning, Mercyhurst extended its lead to 6-2 with an RBI-double by Collin Fantaskey in top of the third and a two-RBI double by Zach Mitchell in the fourth.

IUP tied the game at six in the bottom fourth after scoring on a Russell Lamovec wild pitch and a three-run Cory Wheeler home run.
 
Lamovec labored through four innings, allowing six runs and seven hits while striking out four and walking three.
 
O'Donnell drove in Jimmy Standohar via sacrifice fly in the fifth inning for Mercyhurst's eventual game-winning run.
 
Schneider launched a solo shot in the sixth to make it 8-6. The home run was his team-leading fifth of the season.
 
Ryan Smerkar took the mound in the bottom of the fifth and was extremely effective for Mercyhurst, striking out five Crimson Hawks over 2.2 scoreless innings.
 
After back-to-back IUP hits with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Nicolas McRandal entered and ended the game with a strikeout for his second save of the season.

Smerkar earned the win and is now 4-0 on the season. 
 
The Lakers will be the home team in tomorrow's doubleheader against the Crimson Hawks, with game one's first pitch set for 1 p.m.