Erie, PA—After 657 days of away games, the Mercyhurst Baseball team was finally able to play on their new turf for the first time. They broke in the new turf with a 5-2 win over the Notre Dame Falcons.
How it Happened
The Lakers were able to shut down the Falcons in the top half of the first. Troy Banks stepped up to the plate in the top of the first and had the honor of notching both the first hit and home run on the new turf as he put the 0-1 pitch over the centerfield wall.
Mercyhurst would get four innings of shutout baseball from Michael McDonough as he was also able to strikeout seven in his second start of the season.
The lead would grow to two in the fifth inning when Dominic Cecere singled up the middle and allowed Matthew Gibson to score. Gibson led all Lakers going 3-3 with two doubles and two runs scored.
After the Falcons tied the game in the sixth inning, Lakers would go off for three runs in the seventh to take the lead. Freshman Luke Jackson was able to single with a full count to drive Gibson in. After an error by Notre Dame and a walk to Jack Elliott, Tyler Zaluski came to plate to blow the game open, and that's what he did. He singled to left which allowed Jackson to score easily and Cecere dove into home to beat the throw and extend the Laker lead to three.
Mercyhurst pitching would shut the door from there as Michael Krauza came in and only needed 13 pitches in 1.2 inning of work to retire the Falcons. Jack Goonan earned his second save of the season as he needed just eight pitches to get two strikeouts and a weak groundout to first to end the game.
Beyond the Scorebook
The Lakers currently have seven players who are hitting above .300 (min. three games) while four of those players are hitting over .400. Gibson leads the team with a .545 average and has three doubles this season. Mercyhurst pitching has struck out 49 of their opponents this season while holding opponents to a .178 batting average in the first five games of the season.
Up Next
The Lakers will host the Lake Erie Storm tomorrow, the game was originally scheduled for noon, however the game has now been moved to 11:30 AM. Mercyhurst will then travel to Ohio to take on the Akron Zips on Sunday.
Spectator Policy for 2021 Spring Season
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the associate public health guidelines, no spectators are allowed to begin the spring season. Mercyhurst will continue to remain in communication with local, state, and federal agencies over the course of the season to explore possible fan attendance at some point.
Mercyhurst is committed to providing in-depth coverage for fans to stay connected with the team via social media and many other initiatives. Fans are encouraged to follow on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and hurstathletics.com for the latest updates. Fans can also watch games online by clicking here. We look forward to having our proud supporters in attendance in the future.
