CARY, N.C. – Mercyhurst pitcher Chris Vallimont set a new strikeout record for the Mercyhurst baseball program, but the seventh-seeded Lakers suffered a tough 8-1 defeat to #2 Columbus State in their first round matchup at the Division II Baseball Championships at the USA Baseball National Training Complex Sunday afternoon.

The Lakers (36-14) now head to an elimination game against sixth-seed Texas A&M Kingsville Tuesday, May 29, at 3:00 p.m. Columbus State (46-13) moves on to play UC San Diego in the 7 p.m. game Tuesday.

"It certainly wasn't our best effort today," said Lakers' head coach Joe Spano. "You've got to give all the credit to Columbus State today. They were tremendous."

One of the stories of the game was CSU's ability to score with two outs. The Cougars a strong start in its first at-bat when designated hitter Chase Brown finished an eight-pitch at bat against Vallimont with a two-run single up the middle.

In the top of the second, Mercyhurst threatened to score with the bases loaded and just one out, but Cougars' starting pitcher Kolton Ingram induced a strikeout and groundout to escape the jam.

Vallimont tossed back-to-back scoreless frames before CSU added scored three in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs once again, Cougars' second baseman Gunar Drinnen singled to center to score the Cougar's third run. The next batter, right fielder Drew Webb, sent a high fly ball to right field that was lost in the sun by Jimmy Standohar fell for a double to score two more.

CSU scored two more runs in the sixth inning off Vallimont and his day was finished after completing the frame. In his third loss of the season (10-3) Vallimont allowed six hits, seven runs (all scored with two outs), and three walks. He finished the game with 11 strikeouts, which set a new single-season punch-out record for Mercyhurst at 147. Vallimont broke Colin McKee's 141 strikeout mark set in 2016.

"That was the moral of the story today," said Vallimont when asked about runs scored with two outs. "I just have to be better with two outs and execute pitches."
"I thought Chris pitched outstanding," said Spano. "The way our offense is structured, we fuel off of him. We got behind a bit and it was tough getting back."

Andrew Ciolli and Josh Greggs combined for the final two innings of relief, allowing one run and three hits while striking out one each.

The Lakers' plated their lone run in the top of the ninth on Dominic Cecere's RBI-single to the left side. Matthew Gibson set a season high with three hits in four at bats and was the only Laker with multiple hits in the game.

Ingram earned his 13^th win (14-3) after eight shutout innings with only four hits allowed and ten strikeouts.
 
THEY SAID IT
Vallimont on the CSU batting approach: "They had an approach that was very successful. They were all over the fastball which is something I can usually get away with more times than not."

Spano on CSU starter Kolton Ingram and fielding his position: "Ingram was fantastic. You've got to give a lot of credit to him and the way he fielded his position. I thought we had some bunts that we laid down that at the regional or during the regular season may have been hits and sparked a big inning. Those are the kind of things we do and they took that away from us."