Erie, Pa. - The middle of April provided the Lakers with some solid individual performances across the diamond, field, and water. The most impressive of that group of efforts came from women's lacrosse's Whitley Easton and Mitchell Grosch of baseball.
Easton and the Lakers competed in two games on the week, dropping both as they feel to Gannon in an offensive battle, 19-17, before a 15-13 loss at the hands of Lock Haven Saturday. Easton proved to be an important piece in the team's effort to help them the Lakers stay in the pair of PSAC contests with the sophomore registering 13 points on the week with four goals and nine assists. Easton began with one goal and a career-high five assists against the Golden Knights while coming away with away with three goals and four assists on Saturday against LHU for a career-high seven points.
The Honeoye Falls, N.Y. native has been at the center of the team's efforts this season on offense with 40 points, netting 21 goals to go along with 19 assists. Her 21 scores are second on the team behind only Emma Cimino who has 24 on the year while Easton's 19 assists lead the way for the Lakers. She has hit her stride here of late with four games of multiple goals in four of her last five games with a dozen helpers of that time and hopes to continue that hot streak as the campaign hits the home stretch.
The team plays just one game on the new week as the Lakers take on IUP on Wednesday, April 17th. Mercyhurst hosts the Crimson Hawks in that contest with the two teams set to begin at 5:00 p.m. inside Saxon Stadium.
Grosch now makes it back-to-back weeks in which he has been named a PPG Athlete of the Week as the Warren, Pa. native has gotten hot at the plate. In four games on the weekend he hit 9-16 with three of those hits going to extra bases with a pair of home runs to go along with a double, knocking in 11. Grosch collected a week-high in hits in the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday with Gannon in which he has three to tie for the second-most this season.
On the season, the infielder has a triple slash line of .424/.509./.652 for an OPS of 1.161 with each of those numbers being the best on the team. He also leads the way for the Lakers in hits (39), doubles (7), and total bases (60) while being tied with Chris Juchno, Zachary Kourous, and John Susnik in home runs with four. He has also been a threat on the base paths, going 5-5 in stolen base opportunities. He's been one of the best hitters in the PSAC to this point as he is in the top five in BA, OBP, SLG, and OPS, making him one of the more feared hitters in the conference. The senior has been on a tear in his last seven games, going 13-24 at the plate with multiple hits in five games with three doubles, three home runs, and 13 RBIs.
Grosch and the Lakers head for Pitt-Johnstown on Friday, April 19th, for a doubleheader while the two teams make their way to Erie the following day to round out the series the following day with first pitch set for 1:00 p.m.
