ERIE, Pa.—The Mercyhurst baseball team will advance to the College World Series for a second straight year after defeating Charleston 6-5 in game two of the series, and 14-4 in third and final game.
Game Two (W, 6-5):
Matthew Schneider led Mercyhurst with three hits, going 3 for 4 as
Josh Surowiec led the team with four RBI.
Tyler Garbee would record his eighth win of the season after going five total innings only allowing two hits, five earned runs and striking out six.
Adam Jeannette would lock down the win for MU after a stellar performance out of the bullpen not allowing a single earned run in four innings of relief and in the process struck out three batters.
Game two of the series was an elimination game for the Lakers as they desperately needed to start the day off strong. With two outs in the inning,
Matthew Schneider got the bats going early for MU as he doubled to left center moving Elliott over to third. Surowiec added to the two out rally with a homerun to right field giving Mercyhurst a 3-0 lead.
Charleston was able to answer the Lakers as Morello singled to left field scoring Hathaway to make it a 3-1 game. After Young forced the Golden Eagles to go three up three down, the Lakers swung that momentum in their favor with two more runs in the third off a Snyder double down the right field line scoring
Matthew Schneider and
Alex O'Donnell.
O'Donnell started off the top of the fifth for the Lakers hitting a ground-rule double to left center. Schneider would then single up the middle before Surowiec would reach on a fielder's choice scoring O'Donnell. This would give the Lakers a 6-1 lead heading into the home half of the inning.
The maroon and gold would not go away as they would score four runs in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to only one. Jeannette would come in for Garbee during the inning but would lock-in for the remained of the game not allowing UC to tie the game giving Mercyhurst the game two win, 6-5.
Game Three (W, 14-4):
Jack Elliott led the Lakers with three hits while
Domenic DeRenzo went 2 for 3 with four RBI.
Christian Young would earn the win going three innings allowing six hits and three earned runs.
Russell Lamovec would come in as a relief for MU and would go six innings not allowing a single hit and striking out nine batters in the process.
The third and final game was one to remember for the Lakers. MU would score first in the final game of the series after Schneider would score
Matthew Gibson on a sacrifice fly to center. UC would respond and tie the game in the second after an Elliott single down the right field line scoring Morello.
Charleston would keep the pressure on as they would tack on two more runs in the third inning to take an early 4-1 lead.
Russell Lamovec would come in to relieve Young in the fourth and would strike out the first six batters he faced as he would slice and dice his way through the Golden Eagles lineup. UC would have pitching trouble in the fourth as Mercyhurst took full advantage of that with a bases loaded walk and a passed ball to tie the game at three. DeRenzo had a hot bat in game three doubling to left field scoring two, to give the Lakers a 5-4 lead. The green and blue would continue the attack as Elliott would single scoring DeRenzo who would eventually score as well off another wild pitch.
Mercyhurst would head into the fifth with a 7-4 lead and would not look back. From there, O'Donnell would drive in another run after Cecere would score on a passed ball to increase the lead to five (9-4). DeRenzo would continue the "Boomer Sooner" magic with another 2 RBI double to make it 11-4 Lakers. MU would score three more runs before taking the third and final game of the Atlantic Super Regional series 14-4 as they will head back to the College World Series just like the season before.
Up Next: Stay tuned for more information as the Lakers travel to Cary, North Carolina for the College World Series.
