Hurst Baseball stays sharp, Heilman continues to dominate

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Christina Judy, Staff writer

Mercyhurst men’s baseball conquered California University of Pennsylvania on Friday, April 21 to kick-start their weekend series of games. In this 3-1 feat, junior John Susnik had a walk-off home run to secure the Laker win. However, the story of game one would not have predicted this happy ending for the Lakers. The Vulcans came out strong in the first two innings as they were able to put three runners on during this time. They really had the fans believing that they were going to score the first run of the game in the top of the second. That thought did not stay in the air for long though as Luke Jackson, an Erie native stopped the runner at the plate with a fantastic throw.
Continuing this momentum, freshman Zachary Kourous earned his spot on the team with a home run-his second of the season-in the bottom of the second inning. The ball went soaring over the right field wall to put the Lakers on the scoreboard. Kourous sought to keep making his team proud but this time on the defensive end. The build up the Lakers solid defensive unit, he made a heads-up play which blocked Cal from getting on the scoreboard. When the Vulcans bunted, Kourous fielded it and drew the Vulcan runner at third base far enough off the bag by faking a throw to first. This allowed his teammate Matt Christopher to position himself properly to lock in the out.
Cal U could not get on the board until the top of the sixth when they got their run off an RBI to tie the game at 1-1. Susnik did not let this tiny scare phase him when he stepped up to the plate, and he successfully hit a home run to increase the score to 3-1.
Each team was given little time to rest as they prepared for their second game of the day against each other. The Vulcans strong start gave them something to prove for it this time around and they gained the lead at 1-0 at the top of the third. With a team effort, the Lakers changed their fate in the game. Christopher allowed his teammate Joe Trivisonno to run it home after he doubled it into the right-center field gap. Moments later, outfielder Chris Juchno gave Mercyhurst the advantage of the Vulcans with his hit that flew over the right field wall in the sixth inning.
With the pressure on, the Vulcans were not ready to settle for losing another game, so they tied the score at 2-2 at the top of the seventh.
Anticipation grew but the weather worsened, and the game was called at the bottom of the 12th inning. The game was picked up the following Sunday and the Lakers pulled off the win with a 3-1 score.
Jarrett Heilman put up another wonderful performance on the mound giving up only one run in five innings. This was his first run giving up in the entire month of April, which ended his 26-inning scoreless streak. Overall, the Lakers saw a successful weekend and went 3-1 in their series against California University of Pennsylvania.