Baseball freshman pitcher Vincenzo Lucente was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West Pitcher of the Week.
“I was surprised,” said Lucente. “The PSAC has a lot of really good pitchers and all the Mercyhurst pitchers did well against Slippery Rock that weekend.”
Lucente was recognized on April 10 alongside Shippensburg pitcher Gabe Mosser, IUP’s Nate Dickey and Austin Edgette of Bloomsburg for week seven of the season.
His naming comes just a week after fellow Laker sophomore Chris Vallimont was named Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 3.
A graduate of Youngstown Ursuline, Lucente was selected to first-team All Ohio and was on the first-team All District during his high school days. Lucente’s uncle notably played for the Houston Astros MLB team from 1991 to 1997.
As a freshman at Mercyhurst, Lucente has pitched in four games as a part of what has been a strong season for baseball so far.
“I think our record says it all,” said Lucente. “We have a strong pitching staff and our bats are phenomenal. We have six guys that hit over 400 and as a team we bat 350. Those are some strong numbers.”
The Lakers are at 27-2 and stand at the top of the PSAC West rankings at 15-1 for the conference. In addition to being on a 14-win streak, they are 8-1 at home, 10-1 away and 9-0 when playing at a neutral field.
It was against Slippery Rock that Lucente received his recognition.
“I think the shut-out and the fact that I pitched the complete game is what caught their eye. But our defense really played a great game as they always do,”.
Lucente, who is 3-0 as a pitcher, only gave Slippery Rock eight hits while striking out nine batters and allowed one walk in the April 9 game.
Lucente pitched a total of 99 times over the course of seven innings to opposing batters as the sole pitcher for the Lakers in the contest.
Lucente and the Lakers played next against the Ganon University Golden Knighin a pair of double headers on April 21 and 22.