Morgantown, WV. - Mercyhurst baseball finished up their weekend on the wrong side of the scoreboard as they fell to D'Youville. The bats were alive in this one with 21 total runs between the two teams with six of them coming in the top of the ninth for the Satins on their way to the 11-10 win.

How it Happened

Both teams were able to come out and make some noise in the opening inning of play with a total of four runs scored in the frame. The Saints plated two in the top of the stanza with a double helping provide the first run of the game before a throwing error gave them the second. Despite being down early, Mercyhurst responded the way they wanted to as they tied things up in the bottom part of the inning. Much like the Saints, the Lakers got going thanks to a double off the bat of Luke Jackson who then came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Zachary Kourous to make it 2-2.

Coach Latona's crew got back to work in the second with two more runs to help them to their first lead of the game. Ranciel Ventura led off the inning with a double and eventually came around to score to make it 3-0 on a groundout from Eric Chorba. They then added on after a miscue by D'Youville to make it 4-2 before the Saints came back to tie things up in the top of the third, 4-4. It did not stay that way for long, though, as another Saints error allowed one run to come in during the bottom of the third to give Mercyhurst the lead once more, 5-4.

The Lakers added onto their slim lead in their half of the fifth with two runs, looking to begin to pull away. A single to right field off the bat of Chris Juchno plated the first run while a double from Kourous gave Mercyhurst the other to make it 7-4. D'Youville did manage to score once in the top of the sixth to show they would not go away quietly in the later innings.

Mercyhurst managed to add some insurance in the eighth with a triple off of the bat of Kourous as the score stood at 8-5 before backstop Landon DiBeridan doubled him in to make it 9-5 before they added one more in the frame to reach double digits thanks to a single up the middle from Ventura. D'Youville managed to battle all the way back and take the lead thanks to six runs in the top of the ninth to make it 11-10 with Mercyhurst having one more chance to pull out the win.

Luke Jackson got things started with a single while advancing to second on an errant throw from the Saint's third baseman. A fielder's choice and a subsequent walk gave the Lakers runners everywhere with no outs as it looked like they would be able to put up at least one run. They were turned away though as a hard hit line drive to the first baseman off the bat of Kourous ended in a double play before a backwards K finished the contest.

Highlights

Mitchell Grosch led the team in hits with five, going 5-5 for a new career-high in base knocks in a single game while his one walk gave him the first game in which he has reached base safely six times. Five other Lakers finished with multiple hits with Luke Jackson's three coming in second on the team while Zachary Kourous was the only Laker to have multiple extra base hits with a double and a triple to his line.

Next Game

Mercyhurst prepares to go south for their next set of games, going to Cary, N.C. The team begin their time in Cary on Friday, March 1st, when they see Concord University followed by a matchup with Frostburg State the following day before wrapping up with West Chester on the 3rd in a 1:00 p.m. start.