April 20, 2008

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

Erie, Pa. - In both games of Mercyhurst's baseball doubleheader with Tiffin Sunday, the Lakers trailed heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. And in both contests, the Lakers came away with walk-off victories. Craig Denman's RBI single gave Mercyhurst a 5-4 victory in the opener and Jamie Walczak's RBI double down the left field line capped a five-run comeback to get a 10-9 win in game two.

In the first game, Mercyhurst trailed 4-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh but Walczak led off the frame with a walk and stole second to move himself into scoring position. After Joe Luli struck out, Greg Turk hit a slow roller to second base. Walczak was attempting to steal third on the pitch and never slowed down, rounding third and beating the throw home after Tiffin's second baseman got the out at first to tie the game at 4-4. Still not done, John Blike and Adam Schlessel were hit by pitches on consecutive plate appearances and Denman followed with an RBI single to score pinch runner Russell Gardner with the winning run.

Tiffin had taken the lead off of Mercyhurst starter Eric Drobotij with single runs in the first and fifth innings. The Lakers cut the deficit in half on a Walczak RBI single in the bottom of the fifth but the Dragons answered with two more runs in the top of the sixth to take a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the sixth, Dan Bertolini had a bases loaded single to drive in two runs and set the stage for the seventh-inning heroics.

Drobotij went five innings, allowing eight hits and four earned runs and did not factor into the decision. James Ludwig made his 21st appearance of the year and pitched two innings for the win. Bertolini and Schlessel each had two hits for Mercyhurst.

The Lakers came from way behind in a wild game two to complete the sweep. Mercyhurst scored on a Joe Luli RBI fielder's choice in the first, but Tiffin answered with five runs off of Laker starter John Mang. Tiffin added another run in the third against relief pitcher Thurman Schaetzle but the Lakers cut into the 6-1 deficit in the bottom half of the inning with a Luli RBI single, a Blike RBI groundout and a wild pitch that scored Luli.

Tiffin came right back in the top of the fourth with three more runs to take a 9-4 lead but the Mercyhurst pitching would shut down the Dragons the rest of the way. Mercyhurst got two of the runs back in the bottom of the fourth as Tiffin walked three consecutive batters and then hit Walczak with a pitch. Luli followed with another walk that made it 9-6.

Mercyhurst got another run in the bottom of the fifth and it was still 9-7 heading into the bottom of the seventh. Blike led off the frame with a single but Denman flew out to right field and Greg Turk hit into a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning. Keppler and Bertolini followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases and, after a pitching change, Adam Gray hit an infield single as the Tiffin shortstop dove to keep the ball in the infield. In a desperate attempt to get the final out at second, the shortstop tossed the ball over the second baseman's head, allowing Turk to score the tie run. With runners on first and second, Walczak ripped an RBI double down the left field line to end the game.

Walczak went 3-for-3 in game two with a run and two RBI. Gray also had three hits, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Luli added three RBI as well. John Morris pitched two hitless innings of relief to get the win.

Tiffin falls to 16-17 with the losses and Mercyhurst gets back to .500 at 20-20. The Lakers will play rival Gannon Wednesday in a GLIAC doubleheader at Jerry Uht Ballpark in downtown Erie beginning at 4:30 p.m.