Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst Baseball completes the four-game sweep against their cross-town rivals, Gannon, Saturday afternoon with a pair of wins. The Lakers move to 17-6 on the year and 11-1 in the PSAC as they win their seventh and eighth consecutive games in the 1-0 and 3-2 victories.
How It Happened
Game One
The front end of the doubleheader was one that saw little offense as there was only one run scored in the contest. That came courtesy of Matt Christopher who hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second to plate Zachary Kourous as Mercyhurst grabbed the lead.
It looked like the Lakers were going to add on the in fourth as a one-out double off the bat of John Susnik got a runner in scoring position, but he could not make it any farther as Gannon's pitching staff proved up to the task.
Laker hurler Aiden Kelly took the mound and did his part in the win, going the full seven innings. He was able to cruise through the first five innings with only one base runner to his line up to that point. The Golden Knights were able to put some pressure on the sophomore pitcher in the top of the seventh with a pair of hits, but Kelly managed to make his way out of the jam thanks to some slick fielding from Christopher at short for the final out.
Game Two
The Golden Knights fired the opening salvo of game two and found themselves in the lead for the first time in the series with one run in the bottom of the third, making it 1-0. They then added on in the next canto with one more as Gannon found themselves in front 2-0 going into the back half of the game.
After scratching across a run in the bottom of the fourth via a balk, Mercyhurst tied things up at 2-2 in their half of the sixth. Luke Jackson came to the plate with two away in the inning and sent one over the left field wall for his team-leading fourth homer of the year as the score became tied going down the stretch, 2-2
After both teams failed to score in the seventh, the Lakers called game in the eighth. After back-to-back walks to lead off the frame by Eric Chorba and Chris Juchno, a sacrifice bunt from Jackson gave Mercyhurst runners on second and third with one away. An intentional walk and a fielder's choice made it bases loaded with two down as Landon DiBeradin came to the plate. The freshman backstop proved to be patient, drawing a walk to end the game in unceremonious fashion, 3-2.
Highlights
Freshman Zachary Kourous led the team in hits with three, going 3-6 with two runs scored and a double. Luke Jackson came away with the biggest hit of the day for Mercyhurst with his fourth home run of the season, going 2-5 on the day overall. Aiden Kelly was nearly perfect on the bump in game one, going seven strong innings while allowing just three hits and fanning seven, needing only 74 pitches to get through the game.
Next Game
The Lakers take a break from PSAC play as they are set to see Findlay in their next two games. They hit the road to take on the Oilers on Tuesday, April 11th, with the first game beginning at 3:00 p.m. Mercyhurst then sees UPJ in a four-game set starting on Friday on the Mercyhurst Baseball Field with two games at UPJ the following day wrapping up the series.
