Erie, PA—In a weekend in which every win is vital, the Mercyhurst Baseball team picked up two shutout wins beating Clarion 8-0 and 2-0 in their final home doubleheader of the season.
Game One (W, 8-0)
The weather in Erie on Friday was overcast and a little chilly but the Laker bats were hot in game one as they scored eight runs while Michael McDonough earned his second win of the season.
Mercyhurst had a quick start in the first inning as they loaded the bases with two outs. Troy Banks came to the plate with the bases juiced and hit a sharp groundball to third which the Clarion third baseman made a diving stop on. The Clarion player as he dove was in the path of Philip Ferranti, Ferranti attempted to avoid him but was ruled out of the baseline by the umpire for the third out of the inning.
In the bottom of the second, the Lakers got on the board. Matthew Gibson was able to start the inning with a four pitch walk and Logan Martella-Tasick was able to get a SAC bunt down to move Gibson to second. Luke Baranchak then singled up the middle which allowed Gibson to trot home and give the Lakers an early 1-0 lead. After a groundout, Tyler Zaluski came to the plate with two outs and a runner on second. Zalsuki roped his sixth homer over the center field wall to make it 3-0.
Mercyhurst added to their lead in third inning. Jack Elliott roped a one-out double to right center. Two pitches later Banks switched positions with Elliott as he doubled down the left field line to make it 4-0 Lakers.
The Mercyhurst offense continued their scoring in the bottom of the fourth. Casimer Sobaszek was hit with a pitch with one out to get the Lakers going. Zaluski's bat kept producing as he doubled to move Sobaszek to third and put two runners in scoring position for Josh Surowiec. Surowiec pulled one to left field which drove in both Sobaszek and Zalsuki to make it 6-0. Surowiec then stole second and was in scoring position, Ferranti had a productive second out as he grounded out which moved Surowiec to third. Elliott came to the plate and blasted his PSAC leading 12th homer of the season to make it 8-0.
McDonough did his part and more on the bump for the Lakers. The senior went six innings while striking out seven for the Lakers while not walking anyone. Hunter Treece took over in the seventh inning as he struckout two while getting also getting a groundout.
Game one was the first shutout win of the season for the Lakers.
Game Two (W, 2-0)
Vincenzo Lucente took the ball in game two as the Lakers looked to sweep the Golden Eagles on Friday. In a low scoring affair Lucente turned in the first complete game shutout for the Lakers this season.
The Lakers came out swinging in the first inning as Sobaszek doubled down the right field line on the second pitch from the Clarion pitcher. After two outs Elliott singled to left center which allowed Sobaszek to take the 1-0 lead.
Mercyhurst scored their second run of the game in the bottom of the third inning. Sobaszek started the inning with a single which was followed up with a Zaluski single which advanced Sobaszek to third. With no outs Surowiec drove one to the wall but it was caught but allowed Sobaszek to score on the SAC Fly.
Lucente earned his second career complete game shutout with the first being on April 9th, 2017 against Slippery Rock in which he struck out nine in the win as a freshman. On Friday, Lucente went seven scoreless innings while striking out 10 and walking no one. He also got eight groundouts and two flyballs.
This was the first time since March 23rd, 2018 that Lakers were able to shutout their opponents in both games of a doubleheader. They last did it to IUP in which they won 1-0 in extra innings in game one and 4-0 in game two.
Playoff Picture (WARNING: Brain May Hurt After Reading)
With the two wins today from the Lakers, they helped themselves as they are in third place in the conference after Gannon split with Cal today, Gannon clinched a spot in the post season. Mercyhurst, Cal, UPJ, Slippery Rock, and Clarion all have chances to still make the post season at this time. If the Lakers win both games tomorrow, they will be in the PSAC playoffs with seeding to be determined once games are completed this weekend. Due to games that are in progress the playoff scenarios are changing by the minute. We will continue to update this page as scenarios are confirmed.
Up Next
The Lakers and Golden Eagles will face off tomorrow at Clarion for the Lakers final regular season games of the season. The first round of the PSAC playoffs will begin on Wednsday with the top two seeds hosting the third and fourth seeds.
