Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Baseball enters the second week of the season with a 2-1 record. The Lakers head to Salem this weekend to take on Alderson Broaddus, Wheeling, and Salem. Mercyhurst played AB on Saturday before playing Wheeling and Salem on Sunday and Monday.
1. Opening Weekend Recap
The Lakers played in the MEC/PSAC Challenge last weekend and defeated Fairmont State to open the season and AB to close out the weekend, the Lakers fell to Glenville State in the middle game of the weekend. The team overall hit .310 at the plate while limiting opposing hitters to just a .189 batting average combined. The Laker pitching staff also racked up 38 strikeouts while allowing just ten earned runs.
2. Picking Up Where They Left Off
Last season Matthew Gibson was the leading hitter a season ago and he opened the season with a four hit weekend to open the season. Josh Surowiec notched six hits and in his first three games of the season. Josh Greggs was the opening day starter and struck out six in his first outing of his final season with the Lakers. Jarrett Heilman started the third game of the weekend and went 3.2 innings while striking out four and holding opposing hitters to .091.
3. Fresh Faces Pitching In
Mercyhurst has a roster of experienced players but will look to freshman and transfer players to step up throughout the year. In the opening weekend the Lakers had a lot of new faces on the mound and in the field. Freshman Ben Berdine, Jacob Bazala, Aiden Kelly, and transfers Tom Colcombe and Spencer Curran each pitched for the Lakers. Mercyhurst played multiple new players in the field in the opening weekend including Landon DiBeradin who started on Sunday and went 2-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Chris Juchno notched his first career hit against AB on Sunday as well.
4. Scouting The Opponents
Alderson Broaddus enters the weekend with an 0-3 record and have been outscored 38-6 in the first games of the season. The Battlers have recorded just 11 hits this season while hitting .131, their pitching staff has allowed other teams to hit .324 against them.
Wheeling has a 1-8 record after opening the season the first week of February. Their only win of the season came against Chowan University by a scored of 10-9. Their last three games they have played Cal (PA) and have all three by a combined score of 29-6.
Salem is entering the weekend with a 2-8 record with their loan wins against Fairmont State and Mansfield. In their last game they beat Mansfield 9-7 at home. This season the Tigers have been outscored 97-52 in their 10 games.
5. Looking Ahead
The Lakers go back to Salem next weekend as they face Concord to open the weekend and then Charleston twice to close out the weekend. Mercyhurst plays their home opener on Tuesday Mar. 15 against Lake Erie.
