Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Baseball team opens their season this weekend as they travel to Glenville, West Virginia to take part in the MEC vs PSAC Challenge.
1. Flashback to 2021
The Lakers finished the shortened 2021 season with a 27-15 record while falling to Seton Hill in the PSAC semi-finals. The Lakers return an experienced lineup from last season and were led at plate by Matthew Gibson and Jack Elliott. Gibson was the leading hitter for the Lakers hitting .380 while adding five round trippers and 26 RBI. Elliott was among league leaders in homers with 14 while hitting .280 while providing solid defense at the hot corner.
The Lakers made the playoffs for the 13th straight year and have made the PSAC playoffs every year since joining the conference. Mercyhurst has also made three NCAA Division II World Series twice in the last three tournaments held in 2018 and 2019.
2. Nationally Prominent
Despite not playing a game this season, the Lakers are ranked 19th in the nation in the latest NCBWA National Poll. This is the highest the Lakers have been ranked this season, in the NCBWA Preseason National poll Mercyhurst was receiving votes prior to the season. In the National Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll the Lakers were tabbed 19th in the nation.
In the PSAC West preseason poll, Mercyhurst was selected to finished second while in the NCBWA Atlantic Regional poll the Lakers are currently second behind only Seton Hill.
3. Experience In The Lineup
Mercyhurst returns all but two players to their hitting lineup this season. They also have an infield that has four seniors and a junior college transfer projected to start the season. Josh Surowiec, Casimer Sobaszek, Elliott and Philip Ferranti are all back for senior seasons while Ryan Hill has joined the Lakers from Monroe Community College. In the outfield Gibson is the only returner who played majority of the season last season. Luke Jackson primary was the DH last year as a freshman and looks to crack the lineup once again while Logan Martella-Tasick was a key role player off the bench last season.
4. Young Staff
The Lakers lost a lot on the bump with six pitchers who started last season no longer with the Lakers. To go along with that they lost their top relief pitch in Michael Krauza who was an All-American last season. Nathan Holt is the lone pitcher on the staff that started last season. Hunter Treece and Josh Greggs are expected have enhanced roles as upperclassman this season while second year pitchers John Bufford Jr. Corbin Foy, Robert Hartman, Jarrett Heilman will look to contribute as well. The Lakers will also need to rely on newcomers Tom Colcombe (transfer), Spencer Curran (transfer), Ben Berdine (freshman), Jacob Bazala (freshman), and Aiden Kelly (freshman) to provide depth out of the bullpen.
5. Schedule Outlook
The Lakers open up the season this weekend taking on Fairmont State on Friday, Glenville State on Saturday, and Alderson Broaddus on Sunday at West Virginia University. The next two weekends the Lakers go to Salem to face Wheeling on Mar. 4 and Salem on Mar. 5 and 11. Mercyhurst plays two more non-conference games against Lake Erie and Ashland before starting PSAC West play on Mar. 25 against Clarion. The home opener is slated for Mar. 15 against Lake Erie.
