Erie, PA—After almost a full year, 364 days to be exact, the Mercyhurst Baseball Team will be back on the field to start a weekend full of baseball. The Lakers will open their season against Wheeling on Saturday in a doubleheader starting at 3 PM with the second game starting about a half hour after the first one ends. Mercyhurst will then face Salem on Sunday in a second doubleheader in as many days with game one starting at 12:30 and the second game starting 30 minutes later.

Laker Outlook

The Lakers were 5-3 last season before the shutdown due to COVID-19. Mercyhurst was coming off a 2019 season in which they made an appearance in DII College World Series and finished with a record of 36-16. The Lakers will return 38 players from a season ago most of which were apart of the College World Series team. Along with the returnees, Head Coach Joe Spano who enters his 22^nd year with the Green and White brought in 27 new faces to help the Lakers.

Leading the way in the lineup will be Josh Surowiec who led the Lakers the Lakers in batting average last season as he hit for .452. Luke Baranchak was right behind Suroweic as he had a .424 batting average while also scoring nine runs, while adding two homers and 11 RBIs. On the bump, the Lakers will return the Hunter Treece who led the team in appearances last season and post a 1.59 ERA and struck out eight in 5.2 innings. Adam Jeannette also returns for the Lakers after posting a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings for the Lakers.

Scouting Wheeling

The Lakers have faced Wheeling 12 times and have a 11-1 record while currently having a three-game win streak. Their last matchup was last season in which the Lakers won 10-9. The Cardinals have a 1-2 record this season as they faced fellow PSAC school California (PA) and were able to win the final game of the series 9-8. Wheeling was 9-4 last season prior to the shutdown, Ryan Lewicki enters his third season as the head coach of the Cardinals. Prior to Wheeling Lewicki coached at West Virginia Wesleyan and Ohio Valley, while playing his college ball at West Virginia Wesleyan.

Scouting Salem

Mercyhurst and Salem have faced off seven times going back to 2011, the Lakers have won all seven matchups, most recently beating Salem 11-0 on March 10^th, 2013. The Tigers have started their season 0-4 with losses against Charleston, Glenville State and two loses to Kentucky State. Salem ended last season 8-10 and were slated to face the Lakers later in the season. J.T. Heenan enters his first season as the head man for the Tigers after being an assistant with Salem last season. Prior to Salem, Heenan spent time with West Virginia University while also playing for the Mountaineers.

Up Next

The Lakers will play their first game in Erie since winning the Atlantic Super Regional on May 25^th, 2019 in Erie. Mercyhurst will host Notre Dame College in their home opener on March 12^th, Lake Erie College on March 13^th, prior to heading to Akron to take on Division I Akron on March 14^th.