Erie, Pa. - Another week is in the books for the Lakers with plenty of memorable performances. The most memorable came on the diamond in the form of Eliza Reynolds of softball and baseball's Ryan Rafalski, earning the pair of Lakers PPG Athlete of the Week honors.
Reynolds and the rest of her squad played a total of six games since last Tuesday with the team winning four of them, seeing Reynolds be a big part of that stretch. She registered at least one hit in the last five games of the week with multiple base hits coming in each of the last four, going 10-24 (.417) over that time. Reynolds saw three of those hits go for extra bases with each being a double while the junior also collected 11 RBIs with four in the front end of the doubleheader with IUP on Saturday, April 20th, to tie her season-high.
The Union City, Pa. native has proven to be one of the better bats in the Laker's lineup this year, hitting for a .345/.363/.462 triple slash line for an OPS of .825, the second-best on the team. Reynolds has been the top run producer on the team with 28 RBIs to her line so far for the second-most on the team, thanks in large part to her team-best 14 doubles. Those 14 two baggers are good enough for third most in the PSAC behind a pair of Seton Hill Griffins while her minuscule three strikeouts are tied for the fewest in the conference with her teammate Madison Fry-Fachet.
Mercyhurst gets back out on the diamond today as they make the short trip to see Edinboro in a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. They then remain on the road on Friday for a trip to Clarion before finishing things out on the 27th with Gannon in a pair of home games, kicking things off with the Golden Knights at 1:00 p.m.
Rafalski and the Lakers ended up dropping game one of the series with Pitt-Johnstown's Rodney Schultz pitching a no-no of his own to make for just the sixth time in Division II that back-to-back no-hitters have taken place. The Laker hurler did all he could to try and match the Mountain Cat's performance and did so with no hits over the course of seven innings while fanning two. The defense behind Rafalski proved to be big in the game as well with a 3-6-3 double play for the first two outs of the frame in the sixth while a 6-4-3 double play ended the game to put a bow on a historic day.
Rafalski is now 4-0 on the year for the best record on the team with his 1.73 ERA also coming in tops on the team among pitchers with 25 or more innings pitched. He has been as tough as anyone in the nation to hit, owning a batting average against of .099, giving up just eight hits in his 26 innings of work with 27 Ks to his line as well. April has been a very good month for the senior righty as he has allowed just one earned run in 17 innings across three games for an ERA of .53, giving up just three hits to go along with 15 strikeouts.
He and the rest of his team return to PSAC action this weekend when they head for California, Pa. to take on the Vulcans on Friday, April 26th, before a two-game set at home the following day with first pitch set for 1:00 p.m.
