Box Score

Glenville, Pa. - Mercyhurst baseball went on the road to Glenville, WV to see the Pioneers Friday night, just coming up short. The Lakers fought hard against their counterpart all night long and managed to grab a lead in the middle innings, but a late home run for Glenville State helped them seal the win, 3-2.

How it Happened

The Pioneers managed to grab the first lead of the game, scoring one run in the bottom of the first. Mercyhurst looked to make some noise in the opening frame with the team able to load the bases thanks to a lead off hit from Matt Christopher with a hit by pitch of Mitchell Grosch loading them up. Despite that, the Lakers were turned away with a wild pitch in the bottom half of the canto leading to a early deficit.

After quiet second and third innings, Mercyhurst managed to break through in the fourth with a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead. A lead off walk from backstop John Susnik got things started with the Laker catcher able to advance all the way to third on a well-hit ball to deep right off the bat of Jayden Walker. Susnik then came in to score off of an error from Glenville's catcher to tie the game. Late on in the frame with one away, Luke Jackson sent a ball to right field which allowed Christoper to come in from third to make it a 2-1 game.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, their lead did not last long as Glenville managed to score once in the bottom of the frame. It was another wild pitch that helped the Pioneers plate their second run of the game, taking the opportunities given to them by Mercyhurst to stick around in the game. 

Things went quiet on both sides over the next couple of innings until the bottom of the seventh. Glenville State was able to get back on the board in their half of the stanza with a one out solo home run to make it 3-2. Mercyhurst threatened to either tie things up or take the lead when they back up to the plate in the eighth. A lead off walk of Walker followed by an error on the Glenville first baseman gave the Lakers runners on first and second with no one out and the heart of the order coming up. It was three consecutive outs for Mercyhurst, though, with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to first to end the inning. 

Coach Latona's crew tried to put together another rally in the final frame and were able to do so after a walk by Grosch led got the first runner while an error on the infield allowed runners on second and third with only one away. After an intentional walk of Susnik, an infield pop up and a strikeout ended the threat and gave Glenville the win.

Highlights

Jacob Bazala put together a solid outing on the bump in his start, going 3.2 innings while fanning eight for the second-most of his career. Teammate Matthew Delvaux got his first take of collegiate action in this one as the righty threw two innings of work, giving up one hit while striking out three. The Lakers came away with three hits as a team with Matt Christopher, Chris Juchno, and Jayden Walker each tallying one with each also walking once. John Susnik showed great patience at the plate, leading the team with three walks on the day.

Next Game

Mercyhurst gets back out on the diamond tomorrow when they see Charleston in a 2:30 p.m. start while the team rounds out their weekend in Morgantown, WV on Sunday with a game against D'Youville which is slated to start at noon.