In the opening game, Clarion committed three errors that the Lakers turned into six runs in the 9-7 win, while the Golden Eagles made two more errors in the second contest that Mercyhurst capitalized on for two runs in the 4-0 victory.

“(Our) batting timing, and some of our fielding timing was a little bit off,” said Clarion manager Mike Brown. “You can only produce game situations so much, whether you’re in a gym or on our turf at the stadium, you need game situations to get better.”

It had been 13 days since the Golden Eagles had last played a game, a 19-4 win over Baruch College on the last day of the team’s spring road trip to the Sunshine State .

“We knew that Clarion hadn’t been outside since their trip,” said Mercyhurst manager Joe Spano. “So there is probably a little bit of rust, but I thought Clarion played pretty well, and we were just lucky enough to capitalize on some of the plays.”

Mercyhurst jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first game, scoring one run in the first frame and three more in the second. In that second inning, the Lakers scored all three runs on wild pitches from Golden Eagle hurler Paul Baker.

Baker lasted three innings and gave up six runs, three of them earned, to pick up the loss.

Clarion got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth when Jake Yackovich got on base with an infield single and advanced to third on a fielder’s choice. Yackovich scored when Jay Krimsky laced an RBI single to center.

However, Mercyhurst notched a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning to extend its lead to five runs.

Yackovich cut the Lakers’ lead back to three runs in the top of the fifth when he belted a two-run homer over the left field fence. Yackovich went 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored.

“Jake’s got a good bat and he has been one of our captains all year,” said Brown. “I’m really proud of the way he’s taken this team by the horns and tried to make things happen.

“He’s a really solid player, and I think he will do well.”

Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, Mercyhurst posted three more runs in the bottom of the fifth when third baseman Adam Gray scored on a passed ball, right fielder Greg Turk scored on a sacrifice bunt from designated hitter Adam Schlessel, and left fielder Craig Denman roped a single to score catcher Joe Furner.

Denman, a freshman, was top hitter for the Lakers in the opening game going 2-for-2 with one RBI.

“We’ve got a lot of injuries, so a lot of the guys that are playing are a little bit younger,” said Spano. “They are a little bit scrappy and we are trying to play ‘small ball’ and move the runners around and that is what we did.”

In the top of the seventh, Clarion’s Matt Rossi blasted a three-run homer to left field to draw the Golden Eagles to within two runs. However, it would be as close as Clarion would get as Mercyhurst reliever John Morris came in and retired Krimsky on a strikeout and got Kirk Hays to fly out to end the contest.

Lakers freshman hurler Nick Gillung picked up the win by giving up only one run and four hits in four innings of work. Gillung also struck out eight in the win.

“We’re really lucky to have (Gillung) on the team, and we think he’s got a real bright future,” said Spano. “He just got on a roll there in (in the first two innings), and the bats, with the cold weather, some of the bats just aren’t what they normally are and he did a real good job of throwing strikes early.”

Gillung had five strikeouts in the first two innings.

In the second game, Clarion’s bats went silent as Mercyhurst sophomore John Iborg tossed six scoreless innings and gave up only three hits on the way to the 4-0 victory.

The Lakers plated two runs in the third and two more in the fifth as Gray went 2-for-3 and tallied two RBI in the win.

Golden Eagles’ hurler Eric Panko dropped his record to 1-1 on the season with the loss. Panko pitched five innings, gave up four runs – two of them earned – on five hits and four walks.

“(Panko) pitched too well to lose 4-0,” said Brown. “He pitched well enough to lose 1-0.”

Clarion had an opportunity for a big inning in the top of the fourth when it loaded the bases with one out, but Rossi struck out and Yackovich grounded out to end the inning.

“We had the bases loaded in the (fourth) inning and didn’t get a run in,” said Brown. “Shame on us.

“We had a couple bad at bats when we could have gotten runs in and made a couple errors on the field, and against good teams, you just can’t do that.”

Clarion’s record drops to 6-2 on the season while Mercyhurst improves to 12-7.

The Golden Eagles will have their home opener on Friday afternoon with a doubleheader against IUP starting at 1:00 p.m.

Clarion drops two more to Division I opponent

LEWISBURG - The Clarion University baseball team took a step up in competition Tuesday and was swept by NCAA Division I Bucknell in a twinbill at Bucknell.

The Bisons ( 9-9-2 ) won Game One 15-3 and then beat the Golden Eagles (6-4) 19-1 in Game Two.

Adam Foltz was Clarion‘s top-batsman in both contests by going 4-for-6 in both games and he had one RBI and one run scored.