Baseball Preview: Mercyhurst Prep Lakers vs. Grove City Eagles
The Mercyhurst Prep Lakers will head out on the road to take on the Grove City Eagles at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Mercyhurst Prep is hoping to deliver their fans another blowout on Saturday, just like they did against Harbor Creek (and have done all season long). Everything went Mercyhurst Prep's way against Harbor Creek on Tuesday as Mercyhurst Prep made off with a 9-2 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for Mercyhurst Prep.
Mercyhurst Prep got a great performance from Brady Rice as he struck out six batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Rice has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Evan Spagel and Zack Kruszewski did most of the damage at the plate: Spagel scored three runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-3, while Kruszewski scored two runs and stole four bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Brady Coleman, who scored a run and stole a base while going 3-for-4.
Meanwhile, Grove City scored the most runs they've had all season to find success on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Franklin with a sharp 18-7 win. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded Grove City with their most commanding win of the season.
Grove City got a massive performance out of Bode Stevenson, who went 3-for-3 with three runs, four RBI, and a triple. Another player making a difference was Paul Gubba, who went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs, and two RBI.
Mercyhurst Prep has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 13-3 record this season. As for Grove City, their victory bumped their record up to 9-6.
Saturday's contest will be a test for both team's pitchers. Mercyhurst Prep hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .317. However, it's not like Grove City struggles in that department as they've averaged .336. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Mercyhurst Prep took their win against Grove City when the teams last played back in May of 2023 by a conclusive 10-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for Mercyhurst Prep since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
