Newsfeed
Printer-Friendly ModeBaseball drops three of four to Mercyhurst
Offensive struggles, errors plague team for third consecutive weekend
April 10, 2006 —
For the third consecutive weekend, the baseball team dropped three of four games against a GLIAC opponent, this time losing three at home to the visiting Mercyhurst Lakers.
The Cardinals dropped both games of a doubleheader Saturday, losing 13-3 in Game 1 and suffering a 5-3 defeat in Game 2.
Sunday, the Cards managed a 5-1 victory to start the day but could not generate any momentum for Game 2, losing 10-3.
The Cards were their own worst enemy in Game 1 on Saturday, committing six errors that led to eight unearned Lakers runs. Defense has plagued the Cardinals all season, as the team has committed 53 errors in 25 games, accounting for 45 unearned runs.
Up 8-3 heading into the top of the seventh, the Lakers scored five runs on three Cardinals errors, putting the game out of reach.
Lakers pitcher Brandon Mendola was able to retire the side in the bottom of the frame to earn the complete game victory for Mercyhurst. For the game, Mendola scattered eight hits and walked one while striking out seven Cardinals hitters.
On the mound for the Cardinals, senior starter Jim Kelly suffered his third loss of the season. The lefty gave up four earned runs in four innings of work and struck out two.
At the plate, the Cardinals were able to manage eight hits, two by sophomore centerfielder Reed Welker, who also scored a run and had an RBI. Junior third baseman Pat Kenny and sophomore catcher Max Bell also drove in runs for the Cardinals.
In Game 2, the Cardinals turned out a much better defensive performance but were still haunted by late inning troubles.
Leading 3-0 with six outs to go, the Cardinals surrendered three runs in the top of the sixth and two more in the top of the seventh to give up the lead. The Cards could only answer with one base runner in the final two innings in an eventual 5-3 loss.
Senior righthander Steve Liebrecht went 5 2/3 innings for the Cards, striking out two and giving up three runs. Like the rest of the staff, Liebrecht had control problems, walking four. On the day, the Cardinals pitching staff walked 11 Lakers batters.
Things looked good for Liebrecht and the Cards until the sixth inning. After retiring the first two Lakers batters, Liebrecht gave up a single and a walk and hit a batter to load the bases before being pulled in favor of freshman righthander Justin Gouthro.
Gouthro then threw a wild pitch to the first hitter he faced, allowing the first Lakers' run of the game.
In the same at-bat, Gouthro allowed a two-run single to tie the game before getting a groundout to end the inning.
Two more walks and a hit batter in the seventh inning helped lead to another Lakers two-run single that put Mercyhurst in the lead for good.
Offensively, first baseman Pete Vanderkolk had a double and a single in four at-bats, driving in a run and scoring another. Six other Cardinals also collected hits in the game.
The Cardinals got off to a better start Sunday, taking Game 1 by a score of 5-1.
Junior righthander Scott Schlaff continued his impressive season by grabbing a complete game victory, giving up four hits and striking out four in picking up his fifth win of the season.
On the year, Schlaff is 5-1 with a 2.03 ERA in 40 innings of work. He has struck out 40 against only seven walks and leads the pitching staff in several categories.
Offensively, Welker had two doubles and drove in three while senior rightfielder Jason Burghardt added two hits, an RBI, and a run scored.
In Game 2, the Cardinals' offense could not capitalize on a Lakers pitching staff that gave up nine walks, managing only five hits in a 10-3 loss.
Senior Ben Grinnell picked up a pair of singles and junior outfielder Chris Hanna knocked in one with a second-inning triple to lead the Cardinals offensive attack.
Though the Cardinals offense threatened several times throughout the game, the team managed to strand 12 runners on base and hit into two double plays to spoil any potential rally.
Freshman lefthander Jon Herendeen started on the mound and took the loss for the Cards, working 5 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs and striking out two.
Junior lefthander Josh Earegood came in for Herendeen in the sixth but did not fare much better, giving up two runs and three hits in 1 1/3 innings of relief.
With the three weekend losses to Mercyhurst, the Cards fell to 3-9 in the conference, putting them in eighth place in the standings. The Lakers' two wins improved their record to 7-5 in GLIAC play and 18-11 overall. They are now fourth in the GLIAC.
The Cardinals return to action Wednesday with a doubleheader at Wayne State before heading to Ashland for four conference games over the weekend. Ashland is currently the top team in the GLIAC with a conference record of 8-2 and an overall record of 27-5.