Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Baseball team opens PSAC play this week with a four game series against the Clarion Golden Eagles. Due to poor weather conditions the first doubleheader will be at Slippery Rock for Clarion's home games on Thursday. The Lakers will play host on Friday as the teams travel to Erie for the second doubleheader.
1. The Matchup vs Clarion
In the last 38 games dating back to 2009 the Lakers are 36-2 against the Golden Eagles. They have won the last 27 games against Clarion including going 4-0 last season to close out the regular season. Clarion last won in 2014 when they beat the Lakers 2-1 in Erie.
Mercyhurst outscored Clarion 42-13 last season and won their two home games via shutouts. Clarion hasn't won a home game against Mercyhurst since 2012.
2. Fifth Year Players Stepping Up
The trio of Josh Surowiec, Matthew Gibson, and Troy Banks are the leading hitters for the Lakers as they are hitting .500, .382, .349 respectively. Surowiec is leading the PSAC in hitting with players who have ten or more games played. Gibson has added a .543 on base percentage and three swiping three bases as he has been hitting near the top of the lineup each game. Banks has blasted four homers while driving in a team high 14 runs. Mercyhurst is fifth in the PSAC in batting average as a team with a .316 team average.
3. On The Bump
The Laker pitching staff has a 3.27 ERA while they are also holding opponent hitters to a .191 batting average. Jarrett Heilman has been a main stay for the Lakers making four appearances, he has a 1.04 ERA while striking out a team high 30 strikeouts. Nathan Holt has made a team high three starts and has a 2.61 ERA while allowing just five hits while striking out 12 and limiting opponent hitters to a .143 average. Freshman Jacob Bazala has made four appearances out of the bullpen and has the lowest ERA among pitchers with three appearances, he has a .96 ERA in 9.1 innings pitched. He has struckout ten and allowed six hits in his freshman season.
4. Using the Long Ball
The Lakers are tied for first in the conference in homers with 26 despite playing the third least amount of games so far this season. 12 players have hit round trippers this season while sophomore Aidan Shephard leads the team with five, he has also driven in 12 runs in seven starts and nine total appearances. Banks and Surowiec have both blasted four homers this season, Banks came into the season with eight career homers at Mercyhurst. Surowiec had seven career homers entering this season. Gibson, Luke Jackson, Aidan Morrison, and Chris Juchno have each hit two this season.
5. Scouting Clarion
This season the Golden Knights are 3-11 with their wins coming over Millersville, Penn State-Greater Allegheny, and Fairmont State. They have been outscored 132-51 this season while they are hitting .349 as a team so far. Scott McManamon and Sam Economy are hitting over .300 for the Golden Eagles. As a team they have hit just four homers while they have given up 19 this season. Opponents are hitting .461 against them while their pitching staff has an ERA of 10.80.
