WEST LAWN, Pa. – The Mercyhurst baseball team, led by heroic efforts from pitcher Matthew Minnick and leadoff batter Jimmy Standohar, mounted another historic comeback in its NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament run with a seven-run comeback to beat Seton Hill 7-6 Sunday afternoon at Owls Field at Ted Palka Park.
The win moves the Lakers (35-13) on to the regional championship game against a team to be determined at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
The Griffins (33-21) head to the losers' bracket final where they play the winner of Sunday evening's Charleston-Millersville matchup on Monday at noon.
Mercyhurst sent Minnick to the mound to start against the Griffins' Jared Kollar to start the afternoon and early on, the matchup seemed to favor the Griffins' freshman.
Seton Hill jumped out in front with four runs in the second inning and two more in the third inning to lead 6-0 after two and a half innings. The Griffins' took advantage of four walks, a hit batter, and one hit in the second. In the third, they had back-to-back doubles and a two-base sacrifice fly.
After the top of the third, all the scoring went in Mercyhurst's favor as they plated seven unanswered runs, starting in the bottom of the third when Dom Cecere scored on a wild pitch.
The Lakers plated two more in the fourth on an RBI-double by Kenny Robinson with the bases loaded to make it 6-3. In the sixth, Mercyhurst added another pair when Daniel Elliott walked with the bases loaded, followed by a sacrifice fly from Matthew Schneider.
Meanwhile, Minnick found his groove on the mound and was stellar from the fourth inning on. Over the next seven innings, he did not give up a hit and allowed only four base runners via three hit batters and one walk.
Mercyhurst trailed 6-5 entering the ninth inning against Seton Hill closer Kenny Wells. After Schneider was hit to lead off the inning, Matthew Gibson pinch ran and made his way to third after a pair of sacrifices. He ended up scampering home on a wild pitch for the game's tying run with one out.
Minnick came out for his tenth inning and retired the side to complete his ten inning start. He threw 138 pitches, with zero runs allowed after the third inning. He walked six and hit five batters, but struck out eight for the game.
After the Lakers didn't score in the 10th, Chris Vallimont entered in relief for the top of the 11th inning and retired the side 1-2-3 with one strikeout, putting him in position for his eventual tenth win of the season (10-2).
In the bottom half, the Lakers worked the bases loaded against Wells and with two outs, Jimmy Standohar ripped his game-winning single to right center field to cap the second comeback in as many games for the Lakers.
Minnick's performance came on the two year-anniversary of his complete-game win in the 2016 Atlantic Regional also played at West Lawn's Owls Field. The Lakers defeated West Chester 5-1.
