Grife and Luli Sweep GLIAC Weekly Honors :: They pair of the first Lakers this season to win the awards

May 5, 2008

Bay City, Mich. - The Mercyhurst baseball team closed its season and its 13-year affiliation with the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) by sweeping the league's weekly honors Monday. Senior Joe Luli was named GLIAC Player of the Week and red-shirt sophomore Steve Grife was tabbed GLIAC Pitcher of the Week.

Luli and Grife played key roles in the Lakers' 4-2 week that included a split with Ashland and three wins over Northwood. With the late-season surge, the Lakers posted its fourth-straight winning season. Luli and Grife are the first Mercyhurst players honored by the conference this year.

It is Grife's second GLIAC Pitcher of the Week honor, having also been named on April 23, 2007, but the first career weekly award for Luli.

In six games, Luli went 9-for-17 (.529) with two doubles and one home run, which gave him a team-leading five on the season. He also drove in nine runs, including Mercyhurst's only run in a 1-0 win over Northwood Sunday afternoon. In the doubleheader at Ashland, Luli went 5-for-6 with five RBIs.

With a hit in all six games during the week, he finishes the season with a seven-game hitting streak and a team-best .364 batting average.

Grife entered the week with two-straight complete game victories under his belt, and he continued to dominate, hurling two more complete game gems against Ashland and Northwood to finish his season with only two runs allowed in his final four starts.

In his two starts, Grife worked 14 innings, surrendered just one run and walked just one while striking out 17. Against Ashland, he allowed one run on five hits and struck out five, and three days later against Northwood, he did not allow a walk or a run and struck out a career-high 12 to help the Lakers to a 1-0 victory.

With a 0.64 ERA in his final four outings, Grife lowered his season ERA to a team-best 2.50 and boosted his record to 6-5. He also totaled 78 strikeouts on the season, ranking second in the GLIAC and second among Mercyhurst's single season performances.