ERIE, Pa. – The ninth-ranked Mercyhurst baseball team continued its hot-streak against Clarion with their 15^th and 16^th straight wins over the Golden Eagles Friday, April 20, at Mercyhurst Baseball Field.
 
Mercyhurst (25-7, 14-4 PSAC) had strong pitching performances once again from Chris Vallimont and Russell Lamovec. The Lakers won game one 9-3 before pitching a 6-0 shutout in game two.
 
Recaps to both games are below:
 
Mercyhurst 9, Clarion 3
 
Vallimont took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Mercyhurst's offense produced rallies in the first and fifth innings to come out with the six-run win.
 
Vallimont cruised through 6.1 innings before allowed his first base hit on a Cole Shaffer single to left field. Clarion (7-27, 2-16 PSAC) managed to score three in the inning and forced Vallimont to exit with two outs in the seventh, but not before he struck out 13 batters over those 6.2 innings. He walked four and allowed just two base hits.
 
Ryan Smerkar recorded the final out in relief.
 
Mercyhurst's 4-through-6 batters in the lineup produced the big base hits to spark the offense. Daniel Elliott had a two-run single in the first inning and added a line-drive solo home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth.
 
Matthew Schneider had a run-scoring double in the fifth and came home on the next at-bat when Michael Montalbano drove him and Elliott in on a two-run single. Schneider also brought home a run on a ground out in the first inning.  
 
Jimmy Standohar joined Elliott with a two-hit game with a run scored and one RBI.
 
Mercyhurst 6, Clarion 0
 
Lamovec was dominant and efficient on the mound and Kenneth Robinson broke through with two clutch base hits to spark a shutout win in game two.
 
Lamovec dueled with Clarion's Branden Schlick as both started the game with four scoreless frames. Schlick took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before the Lakers strung together three base hits, including Robinson's first RBI knock on a single to right field.
 
Collin Fantaskey followed up with an RBI on a fielder's choice to give Mercyhurst a 2-0 lead.
 
Lamovec didn't need any more run support than that as he went the distance with just two hits allowed and one walk to go with 8 strikeouts on just 82 pitches. It was his third complete game and third shutout of the season.
 
Robinson came up with a two-run double in the sixth inning for the game's only extra base hit. Those two runs made it 6-0 after Jack Elliott drove in a run on his single two batter's earlier.
 
Robinson and Elliott both finished with two hits. Elliott scored twice while Robinson drove in three runs.

Mercyhurst finishes its series with Clarion tomorrow in Butler, Pa. at Kelly Automotive Park. First pitch of game one will be at 1:30 p.m.