Feb. 25, 2008

Game One
Game Two

Boca Raton, Fla. - Behind the bat of John Blike, the Mercyhurst baseball team pulled out a doubleheader sweep over Wheeling Jesuit Saturday in Boca Raton, Fla., by scores of 7-6 and 10-5.

In the opener, the Lakers trailed 6-5 entering the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Jamie Walczak, who extended his hitting streak to five games with a 2-for-4 performance, singled, putting the tying run at first. He was picked off, however, seemingly putting an end to the Laker rally.

But junior catcher Joseph Furner, who had entered an inning earlier to replace an injured Jeff Stoll, kept the inning alive with a two-out single, and Blike ripped a two-run walk-off home run--his first of the year--to give Mercyhurst the come-from-behind victory.

Getting the win was an uphill climb for the Lakers, as they fell behind by as many as three despite scoring one run in each of the first three innings. Senior James Ludwig (1-0) was the beneficiary of Blike's homer after pitching the final 1.1 innings without allowing a run. Suffering the loss for the Cardinals was Vince Licursi.

Stoll exited the game in the fifth but had already accounted for three doubles and three RBIs. In his first five games, Stoll was 8-for-15 with four doubles, two homers and seven RBIs.

Trey Bennett and Adam Gray each added two hits, and sophomore Greg Turk drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Mercyhurst kept the momentum rolling in the nightcap, pounding out 12 hits and taking advantage of five Wheeling Jesuit errors en route to their third win in a row and fourth game of scoring more than seven runs.

Blike drove in two runs for the second-straight game. Bennett went 3-for-4 with three runs and broke open a 3-3 game in the top of the fourth with an RBI triple. Gray chipped in two hits, and Dan Bertolini plated a pair of runs and recorded two singles.

John Iborg (1-0) earned the mound win in his Mercyhurst debut, working 5.2 innings and scattering eight hits and walking just one while allowing five runs, three of which were earned. Freshman Thurman Schaetzle came on in relief and struck out two in 1.1 perfect innings.

Mercyhurst improves to 4-2 on the season, and will be back in action against Palm Beach Atlantic Tuesday at 7 p.m.