Erie, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Softball closes out their regular season this weekend with a chance to make the PSAC playoffs for the second straight season.
1. The Matchups
The Lakers face crosstown rivals Gannon on Friday to open the weekend. Gannon and Mercyhurst first played in the Lakers first season and earned their first win against the Golden Knights in 1975. The Lakers have won three of the last five against Gannon while the two teams split a non-conference doubleheader earlier this season.
The Golden Eagles first came to Mercyhurst in 1984 to face the Lakers. In the last 19 games against Clarion the Lakers are 17-2 with the two losses coming in 2015 and 2021. Last season the Lakers took three of the four games by a combined score of 22-14.
2. Career Week For Reynolds
For the first time in her career Eliza Reynolds was named the PSAC West Athlete of the Week following her breakout week. The Union City, Pa. native started in all four games last week while the Lakers went 4-0, she is currently on a five game hitting streak as well. She started the week by notching two hits against Edinboro while also playing hero as she had the game winning SAC fly. She had two RBI in that game while also having a double. On Saturday against Slippery Rock, the freshman went 5-7 at the plate while scoring three runs and driving in two. Before the week started, she was hitting .211 this season, heading into the final weekend of the season she has a .353 batting average. In the field she had 12 assists while adding three putouts.
3. Can't Touch It
The Laker pitching staff is among the best in the conference as they have a combined ERA of 2.38 which is third in the conference. Opponents are hitting just .244 against the Lakers while 164 batters have gone down on strikes. Mikaela Schramski has started 19 games in the circle and has an ERA of 2.80 this season along with a 11-6 record. Morgan Hilty has a 1.73 ERA in 17 games this season which is sixth in the conference as she has hurled 105.1 innings. She has 45 strikeouts while Schramski has 103 k's this season. Kaitlin Hoffner has came into 12 games this season as a relief pitcher and has 15 strikeouts in 22.1 innings.
4. Postseason Implications
The Lakers currently sit in fifth and final playoff spot in the PSAC West. Mercyhurst clinches a playoff spot with three wins this weekend but can still get in the playoffs with two wins and some help. The seeds in the playoffs do not decide who hosts games as the whole PSAC tournament is being hosted in Quakertown, Pa.
For the second straight week the Lakers were apart of the NCAA Atlantic Regional ranking put out by the NCAA. The Lakers have earned the sixth spot in the Atlantic Region, the top eight teams make the NCAA Regional. Mercyhurst has never made the NCAA Tournament in program history.
5. Scouting Gannon and Clarion
Gannon has already clinched a playoff spot and are currently second in the PSAC West with a 10-4 conference record and 18-12 overall record. As a team the Golden Knights are hitting .266 while having a .367 on base percentage. Their pitching staff has an ERA of 2.43 and opponents are hitting .226 against them.
Clarion is at opposite end of the standings as they have in eighth place but can still sneak in the playoffs. The Golden Eagle hitters are hitting .269 and have a .348 on base percentage. The pitching staff allowed over seven earned runs a game and one of the worst ERAs in the PSAC. They have just four wins this season but are coming off a sweep of Edinboro on Tuesday.
