Erie, PA—The Mercyhurst baseball team earned a much needed split with the Rock of Slippery Rock on Saturday. In game one the Lakers fell 3-0, game two went the Lakers way as they won 6-2.
Game One (L, 3-0)
Brett Whiteman got the ball in game one for Mercyhurst and he turned in his best outing of the season and one of the best starting pitching performances from the Lakers this season. Whiteman went 6.1 innings and only allowed two earned runs. Despite getting only three strikeouts, he allowed his defense to help him out as he recorded nine groundouts and five flyouts.
Mercyhurst had a chance to open the scoring in the opening inning after Casimer Sobaszek drew a walk to open the bottom of the first. With one out and a runner on first Jack Elliott ripped one off the fence in right center for a standup double, Sobaszek who was running on first got waved around and was thrown out at the plate after a perfect relay from the Rock.
Slippery Rock strung together a couple hits and took advantage of an error in the top half of the third inning to take a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh the Lakers threatened as they had runners on second and third with one out, but they couldn't mount a comeback.
Mercyhurst registered just four hits while holding the Rock to five hits in the contest. Sobaszek, Elliott, Troy Banks and Luke Jackson tallied hits from the Lakers. After Whiteman came out with one out in the seventh, Justin Studd got the final two outs with a strikeout and a flyout.
Game Two (W, 6-2)
Nathan Holt started game two on the bump. After allowing a hit to the leadoff batter in the first, he didn't allow another hit until the top of the fifth inning. Holt went 4.2 innings and allowed just one run on three hits. He struckout five and got nine groundouts of the 18 batters he faced.
In the bottom of the first, Elliott decided that Mercyhurst wasn't getting shutout again as he blasted his PSAC leading 11th homer of the season to give the Lakers a 1-0 lead.
Mercyhurst would threaten again in the third but could not convert after having the bases loaded with two outs.
The Rock would even the game in the fifth thanks to a single, a SAC bunt, a wild pitch, and a passed ball.
In the bottom half of the fifth, Mercyhurst put up a four spot to take the lead back. It started with back-to-back doubles on consecutive pitches from Sobaszek and Tyler Zaluski. Elliott then singled to put runners on the corners with just one out. Philip Ferranti came to the dish and doubled which brought Zaluski in from third and put Elliott on third. Josh Surowiec walked to load the bases for Banks. Banks did a job by driving a fly ball deep enough to allow Elliott to score to make it 4-1. Mercyhurst wasn't done, after a Jackson walk, Logan Martella-Tasick was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 5-1.
Slippery Rock homered in the sixth to make it 5-2. Mercyhurst regained their four-run lead in the sixth when Ferranti drove in Sobaszek with a SAC Fly.
Michael Krauza picked up his PSAC leading eighth win as he went 2.1 innings and allowed a run on just two hits while striking out three. He is also second in the PSAC in ERA and opposing batting average with a 2.18 ERA and a .185 opposing batting average.
Playoff Picture
After the results this weekend, Mercyhurst currently sits in third in the PSAC West. The top four teams will make the playoffs and seedings will be based upon conference wins. Currently Mercyhurst, Gannon, and Cal each have 13 wins while Seton Hill has 17, UPJ 12, and Slippery Rock 9. The first tie breaker is head to head record, since Mercyhurst split their games with Gannon, Cal, UPJ, and Slippery Rock they will have to use the second tie breaker. The second tie breaker which is opponents' total wins in mandated league play, followed by the third tie breaker which is total wins versus top seeded divisional team(s) progressing down until the tie is broken.
Team Leaders
Batting Average: Matthew Gibson .356, Zaluski .352, Ferranti .345, Banks .300 Surowiec .278
Home Runs: Elliott 11, Banks 6, Ferranti 5, Zaluski 5, Surowiec 4, Gibson 3, Jackson 3
RBI: Surowiec 30, Elliott 28, Ferranti 19, Zaluski, Gibson, Banks 18
Runs: Elliott 31, Surowiec 28, Ferranti 22, Zaluski 20, Banks 20, Gibson 18
ERA (Min. 15 IP): Chase Stewart 2.16, Krauza 2.18, Whiteman 3.91, Michael McDonough 4.73, Hunter Treece 5.06
Strikeouts: McDonough 54, Krauza 49, Fraschetti 24, Vincenzo Lucente 22, Whiteman 21, Stewart 21, Treece 19
Up Next
The Lakers will take on Clarion in their final regular season series of 2021. The PSAC Playoffs will then start on May 12th.
