Slippery Rock, Pa.—The Mercyhurst Baseball team earned a series split with Slippery Rock on Saturday afternoon and earned a spot in the PSAC playoffs.
Game One (W, 13-4)
The Lakers went scoreless in the top of the first inning. The Rock plated two runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
After a scoreless second inning, the Lakers got on the board in the top half of the third. On the first pitch of the frame Philip Ferranti homered to cut the Rock lead in half. Slippery Rock answered with an RBI single in the bottom half to make it 3-1.
In the fourth the Lakers took advantage of some pitching errors from the Rock. Troy Banks opened the inning with a single. After a flyout, Luke Jackson and Matthew Gibson were both hit by a pitch to load the bases for Ferranti. On the first pitch of the at bat Ferranti doubled down the left field line to drive in all three runners to give the Lakers a 4-3 lead. Later in the inning after Adian Shephard singled and Casimer Sobaszek was hit by a pitch, Jack Elliott doubled to right field to drive in Ferranti and Shephard to make it 6-3 Lakers. With a runner on second and third Josh Surowiec grounded out to drive in the seventh Laker run of the game.
In the fifth, Chris Juchno and Jackson opened the inning with back-to-back doubles to plate the eighth Laker run and build the lead to 8-3. Gibson and Ferranti followed it up with singles to drive in Jackson and make it 9-3. After a pitching change, Shephard singled to drive in Gibson to increase the lead to seven. One batter later Elliott doubled to deep right field to score Shephard and Ferranti and make it 12-3 after the top of the fifth.
Ferranti's career day continued in the sixth inning as he picked up his sixth RBI of game on single that scored Gibson for the 13th Laker run.
The Rock got one back in the bottom half of the sixth but could not mount anymore of a comeback.
Nathan Holt went the distance on the mound for the Lakers and allowed four runs (two earned) while striking out three and walking just two. He pitched to contact and notched nine flyouts and six groundouts.
Game Two (L, 9-1)
The Rock opened the scoring in the second game with five runs in the second off just one hit by got four free passes in the inning to take the early lead.
In the fourth the Rock tacked on three more runs on three hits to take an 8-0 lead.
One inning later, after a leadoff double the Rock singled in their ninth run of the game.
The Lakers scored their lone run in the top of the sixth. Gibson started the frame with a leadoff double. Elliott moved him over to third on a groundout and Surowiec drove him home on SAC Fly.
Aiden Kelly, John Bufford Jr., Jacob Bazala, and Ben Berdine each pitched for the Lakers in the final regular season game. They combined to allow six hits while striking out five. Mercyhurst generated just two hits, the double by Gibson and Matt Christopher had a single in the fifth inning.
Leading the Way
In the regular Surowiec played in all 45 games while starting in all them as well, he will win the PSAC Batting Title this season as he has a .443 batting average, he also entered the weekend as the third best hitter in the country. While hitting for average he also hit a career high 17 homers which breaks the Mercyhurst program record of 16 that was set in 2009.
As a team the Lakers also hit 84 homers this season which will also lead the league for the season. The pitching staff will also finish with the best opposing batting average which is .223 this season.
Up Next
With the split and some help the Lakers have clinched a spot in the PSAC playoffs that are slated to start on Wednesday at Slippery Rock. Mercyhurst are currently the three seed but can move to the fourth seed depending on the outcome tomorrow between Seton Hill and Cal (PA). If the Griffins sweep the Vulcans the Lakers are the third seed but if Cal wins a single game the Lakers are the fourth seed.
