Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst Baseball comes off a series in which they defeated the Vulcans three times this past weekend, including a pair of walk-off hits to help the team improve to 23-90 overall with a 17-3 PSAC mark. They gear up for five more games in the final week of April with a mid-week matchup with Notre Dame (Oh.) on Wednesday, April 26th, at 1:00 p.m. followed by a four-game set with IUP on the weekend.
1. Playoff Picture
Mercyhurst is now 17-3 in the PSAC with six consecutive wins in conference play. They retain their position at second in the PSAC West, behind only Seton Hill who is now 20-0 while Gannon sits in third with a 13-9 record. Millersville leads things in the East with a 15-2 mark while East Stroudsburg is 14-6 and West Chester close behind at 13-7.
2. Heating Up
The Lakers have been playing some of their best baseball of late, winning six of their last 10 games which includes a five-game winning streak, their second-longest run of the year. Mercyhurst has lost only one game at home during that time in a 5-2 loss to UPJ in the middle of April, showing themselves to be a team to fear when inside their friendly confines.
3. Leading the Way
Jarrett Heilman leads the conference in ERA, posting a mark of 1.38 to this point in the season with four complete games to his line, the most in the PSAC while his .214 batting average against is tied for seventh alongside fellow arm Jacob Bazala. Eric Chorba's blend of power and speed has helped the outfielder be one of the top triples hitters as he is tied for second with four while Luke Jackson cracks the top five in homers with his seven.
4. Scouting the Falcons
Notre Dame is 9-24 to this point in the season, going 5-5 in their last 10 games. They have had a tough time winning games on the road to this point in 2023 with a 4-15 record in away games, losing those contests by an average of 5.8 runs per game including seven games they've lost by 10 or more. Offense has been an issue for the Falcons up to this point with them hitting for a .629 OPS while hitting for only a .238 batting average.
5. Scouting IUP
The Crimson Hawks are 18-24 on the season to this point while holding a 10-10 record in the PSAC, sitting in fourth in the West. They come off a series this past weekend in which they defeated UPJ in three of their four matchups winning by a combined 29-8 over the final two games as the bats had found their groove. Jeremiah Williams will be someone the Lakers hope to avoid on the mound as he has proven to be the team's top hurler with a 2.79 ERA in 42 innings of work with 35 Ks to his line.
