Salem, WV - Mercyhurst Baseball was able to claim a pair of wins on Sunday against Salem on the road in two tough-fought games. The Lakers had to use some late-inning rallies to help them grab 4-2 and 4-0 victories, now moving to 3-4 on the season

How it Happened

First Game

The first contest of the series proved to be a pitcher's duel in the early going with Mercyhurst's offense coming to life in the final frame to take the 4-2 win. Neither team scored in the opening four innings of the game with Salem able to break through in the bottom of the 5th thanks to a leadoff walk and a subsequent hit by pitch.

Jarrett Heilman took the ball for the Lakers with him facing the minimum in two of his first four innings, sitting down the side in both the first and fourth innings. The second frame proved to be a strong one for the hurler as well as he sat down the side on strikes, picking up his ninth, 10th, and 11th strikeouts of the season.

Unfortunately for Heilman, his teammates could not pick him up at the plate in the early going. The Lakers failed to register a base runner through the first three innings but looked like they would break through in the fourth. 

Matt Christopher led off with a walk with Eric Chorba getting him to second on a sacrifice bunt. From there, the Laker shortstop made it to third on a wild pitch but could not make it any further as Mercyhurst was denied the first run of the game.

Salem managed to break through and put a crooked number on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth as they scored two. A walk followed by a wild pitch and hit batter spelled danger for Heilman and caused the Lakers to fall behind 2-0.

The Laker's bats woke up in the top of the seventh, helping them score four runs to take a two-run lead. Landon DiBeradin got the scoring started with a double to plate both Ryan Hill and Chris Juchno with the sophomore coming around to score on Eric Chorba's second triple of the season, giving Mercyhurst all the offense they would need to win game number one.

Game Two

The backend of the doubleheader proved to start the same way as the first as neither team was able to score in the first eight innings with only four hits combined through the front four. Aiden Kelly took the mound for the Lakers and followed up Heilman's efforts in the first game with a strong start of his own as he allowed only three hits through his first four innings of work.

It seemed like the Lakers had found their rhythm at the plate in the middle innings, but were still unable to get on the scoreboard. They tallied their first two hits of the game in the fifth frame as Luke Jackson and Zachary Kourous both singled. Mercyhurst continued to play the station-to-station game in the sixth with singles from Chris Juchno and DiBeradin, but they still failed to crack the scoreboard.

Mercyhurst finally managed to break through in the ninth inning, doing so in a big way, scoring four runs. The Lakers led off their half of the inning with a trio of walks to load the bases before a passed ball brought in the first run. A double from Eric Chorba plated two more as coach Spano's crew had gotten the momentum and the lead. From there, Ben Berdine came in out of the pen and closed the door to take game two.

Highlights

Eric Chorba continues his hot hitting, going 3-7 in the two games with a pair of extra base hits including a triple, his second of the season. Jarrett Heilman had a solid day on the bump, allowing just one hit in 5.2 innings of work while adding five strikeouts to his line. Aiden Kelly followed with a nice outing in game two, pitching five scoreless frames with seven Ks and only three hits.

Next Game

Mercyhurst finished their series with the Tigers tomorrow with the two teams set to reconvene in Salem for one game with a start time of noon.