WEST LAWN, Pa. – The Mercyhurst baseball team mounted a three-run comeback in the top of the ninth inning capped off by a go-ahead hit by
Alex O'Donnell to pick up a big 3-2 win over top-seeded West Chester in the second round of the NCAA Atlantic Regional at Owls Field Friday afternoon.
With the win, the Lakers (34-13) move on to play the winner of Seton Hill and Charleston (W.V) in the other winner's bracket matchup. That game is scheduled for Saturday, May 18, at 7 p.m.
West Chester (31-16) drops to the losers' bracket to face Millersville in an elimination game tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.
The first several innings of this game featured a pitching duel between Mercyhurst's
Tyler Garbee and West Chester's Jon Fisher. Both pitchers held the opposing lineups scoreless for the first four innings of play before a run was finally scored.
West Chester struck first in the fifth inning on Nick Ward's RBI-single to take a 1-0 lead. Garbee continued to throw into the seventh inning and ended up being the second-straight Mercyhurst starter to throw over 130 pitches.
In the seventh inning, West Chester added another run on a two-out double by Shane Dressler to take a two-run advantage. After walking the next batter, Garbee's day was finished at 6.2 innings. He allowed eight hits and two earned runs with four walks and struck out a season-high 11 batters.
Fisher continued to cruise through seven full scoreless innings before running into a snag with Lakers on second and third in the eighth. Fisher exited with two outs in the inning and Andrew Scarpelli entered to close the eighth.
Nicolas McRandal threw a scoreless eighth after completing the seventh to keep the Lakers' deficit at two entering the final frame.
In the top of the ninth,
Matthew Schneider led off the inning with a single to center, followed by a drawn walk by pinch hitter
Matthew Gibson.
Jared Kapturasky moved both runners to second and third on a sacrifice bunt.
Parker Shannon drew a pinch-hit walk to load the bases with one out. The next batter,
Dominic Cecere, also drew a walk on Scarpelli to score Mercyhurst's first run of the game.
Bill Ford replaced Scarpelli to face
Jimmy Standohar, who hit a slow roller to shortstop to score another run and tied the game at two. O'Donnell came through on the next at bat with his single to right field to plate Shannon as the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the ninth, McRandal was relieved by
Adam Jeannette in a save situation after the first two West Chester batters reached base. Jeannette retired the next three batters he faced to end the game and cap off the comeback for the Lakers.
The win marked Mercyhurst's first win of the season when trailing after eight innings of play.
McRandal earned his fifth win (5-1) with Jeannette earning his sixth save of the season.
