Erie, Pa. - Mercyhurst baseball got back on their own diamond for the first time in over a month Sunday afternoon as they completed their first PSAC series of the season with a doubleheader with the Griffins. The Lakers were able to come away with the win in the first game of the day, 4-3, before falling in the finale 13-2.
How it Happened
Corbin Foy took the ball for the Lakers in game one and established himself in the early going as he managed to fan three Griffins in the first two innings of play. The bats ended up picking him up and gave him a lead in the second frame, 1-0. Zachary Kourous led off the inning with a sharp single over the second baseman with him advancing to third thanks to a pair of productive ground balls. With two away, it was the backstop John Susnik who gave Mercyhurst their first lead of the game with a soft hit to third that he ended up beating out.
As Foy continued to roll right along, Mercyhurst was able to scratch another run across in the fourth. Kourous once again acted as the catalyst for the Lakers with the sophomore hitting a one-out double down the left field line before coming around on a single off the bat of Jayden Walker as it was now a 2-0 lead for Mercyhurst through four. Seton Hill finally broke through in the top half of the fifth, though, with a pair of runs on a pair of hits and three stolen bases to tie things up going into the final couple of frames.
The Lakers did not wait around too long to reclaim the lead with two runs in their half of the fifth, making it 4-2. Back-to-back singles from the top of the order set the table for the cleanup hitter, Mitchell Grosch. Mercyhurst's DH hit a fly ball into no man's land in shallow right that dropped with Seton Hill's second baseman trying to find an out on the play at second, resulting in an errant throw that made it 3-2. From there, Ranciel Ventura added on with a one-out groundball out to third to make it a two-run lead for the Lakers.
After a quiet sixth inning at the plate for the Griffins, they managed to make some noise in the seventh with one run off of a single up the middle with one away. That was as close as they would get, though, as Jacob Bazala locked down and slammed the door shut with back-to-back Ks to end the game.
The second contest ended up going Seton Hill's was, winning 13-2. A six-run second inning helped the Griffins grab the momentum in the early going with the team able to add on throughout the game. Mercyhurst did manage to get their offense going towards the end of the contest as they score two runs in the final three innings with one coming courtesy of a home run from Chris Juchno to lead off the sixth, but it was not enough to help bring Mercyhurst back in the end.
Highlights
Four different Lakers finished with two hits apiece in Matt Christopher, Zachary Kourous, John Susnik, and Chris Juchno. Of that group, Kourous and Juchno came away with the two lone extra base hits on the day as Kourous grabbed his second double of the year while Juchno hit his second home run in game two. On the mound, Corbin Foy ended up going the longest with 4.2 innings of work under his belt, allowing two runs while striking out five. His handful of punch outs tied Jacob Bazala for the team-lead on the day as he fanned five in 2.1 innings of relief in game one.
Next Game
Mercyhurst is scheduled to see Notre Dame (Oh.) on Tuesday, March 26th, for one nine inning game with first pitch set for 2:00 p.m. on the Mercyhurst Baseball Field. After that, the Lakers welcome Slippery Rock to town on the 29th for a doubleheader before going to see the Rock the following day to end the month of March.
