Greensburg, Pa. - Mercyhurst baseball went on the road Friday afternoon for a pair of games with 24th ranked Seton Hill with the Lakers falling in game one, but coming back for the win in game two. It was a strong pitching performance in game two from John Bufford Jr. that helped the team secure the win, giving them some momentum heading into the backend of their series with the Griffins.
How it Happened
Pitching dominated the beginning of game one with neither team able to score in the first three innings. The Griffins put some pressure on Mercyhurst over the course of the first few innings, but their hurler was up to the task with Aiden Kelly getting a big punch out in the third for the second out and his fourth of the game to tamper out Seton Hill's hopes of securing the early lead.
The Lakers found themselves having a tough time with Seton Hill's starter, Brandon Bergert, as they were held hitless until the top of the fourth. It was Matt Christopher who helped break the seal for Mercyhurst with a double to lead off the fourth. He ended up making it up third on a wild pitch before becoming the first run of the game after a sharp single to right field off the bat of Zachary Kourous helped the Lakers grab a 1-0 lead. The Griffins did not wait around too long to tie things up, though, with one run in the bottom of the frame making it 1-1 going into the fifth.
Both pitching staffs once again went on a run of strong play as neither team could get the job done without extra innings. The Griffins ended up getting the first two runners on in the sixth and had a chance to grab the lead, but Mercyhurst did not give in. Jacob Bazala took the ball for the Lakers with him getting back-to-back strikeouts to start his day on the bump to get out of the jam and keep the score at 1-1.
Seton Hill would not be continually turned away, though, with the Griffins able to break through in their half of the eighth with a walk-off single securing a 2-1 win in game number one.
The offense for Mercyhurst came a bit earlier in game two with the Lakers getting on the board in the second frame. Mitchell Grosch led off the inning getting hit by a pitch and used a pair of Griffin miscues to make it a round to third. He then made it the extra 90 feet thanks to a single up the middle off the bat of Jayden Walker, 1-0. They then added on in the fourth, making it a 4-0 game going into the bottom half of the inning. A sacrifice fly from backstop John Susnik plated the first run before a while pitch allowed the next one to come in. From there, Ryan Perretti hit a sharp single to left field to help Walker come across to make it a 4-0 lead going into the back half of the game.
The Lakers managed to tack on two more runs in the fifth to make it 6-0, looking like they were determined to get some revenge on the walk-off earlier in the day. After the pair of runs for Mercyhurst, Seton Hill hoped to get something going but were turned away once again by the Laker's pitching. John Bufford Jr. started the game on the bump for Mercyhurst and had his best inning of the game in the fifth as he fanned all three batters he faced to take away any sort of really hope Seton Hill had of getting things going.
From there, the Griffins did manage to score one in their half of the seventh thanks to a home run, but that was not nearly enough to help them avoid the split on day one of PSAC play.
Highlights
Aiden Kelley ended up throwing five strong innings in game one of the doubleheader, giving up just one earned run on five hits while striking out five. He was followed by John Bufford Jr. in game two who went the distance in a game in which he gave up one run on three hits to go along with 10 strikeouts for a new career-high. At the plate, Matt Christopher led the way, going 3-7 in the two games with his trio of base knocks being the most on the day of any Lakers while his double in game one was one of two extra base hits on the day for Mercyhurst. The other belonged to Chris Juchno who hit a double in game two in the sixth inning, making it a 7-0 game in favor of Mercyhurst at the time.
Next Game
Mercyhurst returns to Erie to see the Griffins on Sunday to round out the regular season series between the two teams with action beginning at 1:00 p.m.
