Slippery Rock, Pa. - Mercyhurst baseball played their first and lone game of the PSAC Tournament on Wednesday, May 8th, with the team falling short against West Chester. The Lakers fought hard throughout and managed to take the game all the way to the 15th inning, but could not keep their counterpart down any longer in the 8-7 loss.
How it Happened
The first couple of innings were dominated by pitching with the neither team able to score in the first two frames. Both teams were able to get one runner on in first with the Lakers leaving two on in the second. They eventually broke through in the third thanks to a home run off the bat of Chris Juchno. The junior's blast over the right field wall proved to be a three-run shot as Matt Christopher and Zachary Kourous both reached base to begin the game.
The Golden Rams did manage to resound in the bottom half of the frame with a crooked number of their own as they scored two. It was a one-out triple that did the trick for West Chester to help them pull within one. Mercyhurst did not wait around all too long to build out their lead once again with the team scoring twice in the fifth. The first came off of a bunt from Mitchell Grosch that forced a throwing error, 4-2, before newly minted All-PSAC First Team member John Susnik flew out to center for a sacrifice fly. WCU showed they were not going to go away quietly once again as a double in their half of the fifth gave then one run, 5-3.
West Chester managed to take the lead in the sixth with three runs in the frame. It was a pair of RBI singles that helped them claim the lead with the first bringing in one run before another up the middle brought in two. After the first two outs of the seventh were made for the Lakers, it was four consecutive hits for Mercyhurst that helped them regain the advantage, 7-6. The third single came from Jayden Walker who brought in one run before Ranciel Ventura brought in the other one in the next at-bat, hitting one to left field.
The Golden Rams once again showed they were not going to go away as they tied things up in the eighth, 7-7. From there, the game remained tied in the ninth as the two teams decided neither were willing to see their season come to an end just yet. That remained the case over the next several innings as the Lakers and Golden Rams stayed deadlocked until the 15th inning. WCU managed to get the first two runners on before a sacrifice bunt gave them runners on third and second. An intentional walk was next before a single to right drove in the winning run of the game for the Golden Rams.
Highlights
Luke Jackson and John Susnik tied for the team lead in hits with three apiece all of which were singles, There was only one extra base hit in the contest for the Lakers with Chris Juchno's home run being the opening salvo of the game for Mercyhurst in the third. On the mound, Corbin Foy tossed 5.1 innings to start the game with the right giving up just two earned runs while striking out four. His four Ks were matched by Aiden Kelly who cane out of the pen for his longest relief effort of his career, throwing 6.0 innings.
