ERIE, Pa. – The eight-ranked Mercyhurst baseball team split its opening doubleheader of a four-game series against Gannon Friday afternoon at Mercyhurst baseball field.

The Lakers (28-8, 17-5 PSAC West) won a tight 3-2 battle in game one, but failed to take advantage of opportunities in a 7-4 loss in the second game.
Recaps to both games are listed below:

Mercyhurst 3, Gannon 2
The Lakers received big hits from Matthew Schneider and Kenny Robinson and had shutdown pitching from Chris Vallimont and Adam Jeannette to complete a one-run win in game one.

Gannon (24-15, 13-9 PSAC West) actually got on the board first after Eli Quiceno scored from second base on a wild pitch in the top of the second inning.

Schneider quickly tied the game when he hit a leadoff solo home run to center in the bottom half of the frame. The home run was his seventh of the season.

Robinson put the Lakers ahead for good in the bottom of the third inning with a two-out, two-run single up the middle, giving the Lakers a 3-1 lead.

Vallimont allowed a solo home run to Quiceno in the fourth inning but still tossed a strong six innings in his seventh win of the season. He allowed four hits and walked only two while striking out seven.

Jeannette needed just ten pitches in the seventh inning to close the game for his fifth save of the season. He punched out two batters.

Both teams combined for ten hits in the game and not one player had more than one hit. Jimmy Standohar ripped a triple and walked twice while Daniel Elliott had a double.

Gannon 7, Mercyhurst 4
Lost opportunities and a couple of defensive blunders cost the Lakers in game two's three run loss.

The Lakers stranded 15 total base runners, including leaving the bases loaded for four-straight innings spanning from the second to the fifth.

Mercyhurst scored the game's first two runs, beginning with a Jack Elliott sacrifice fly in the second and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Matt Gibson in the third.

Russell Lamovec had a strong first three innings in which he did not allow a hit. The only base hit he allowed for the game was a two-run home run to Quiceno, his second of the day, in the fourth inning. 

Lamovec did walk four batter, including two to begin the top of the fifth, and inning which proved to be the Lakers' bane as Gannon took advantage of Laker mistakes. The Golden Knights plated four in the frame on just two hits.

Mercyhurst had two costly errors in the frame along with four wild pitches that allowed runners to advance or score. The Lakers trailed 6-2 after Jeannette, making his second appearance of the day, struck out three straight batters to end the inning.

Mercyhurst responded in the bottom of the inning with two runs to pull within two but once again squandered three runners on base. Alex O'Donnell ripped an opposite-field single to score the first run while Daniel Elliott walked with the bases loaded to bring home the second run.

Gannon added one more insurance run in the seventh before ending what was a 3-hour, 33-minute game in the bottom half.

Gannon starter Eric Sapp was awarded the win after completing four innings. Matthew Yough earned a seven-out save.

Both teams complete their series on Sunday, April 29, at Gannon with a doubleheader set to start at 1 p.m.