Baseball Game Preview: Mercyhurst Prep Lakers vs. Union City Bears

Lakers

Runs

04/30/25 @ Seneca	15
04/28/25 @ Iroquois	15
04/25/25 vs Freedom Christian Academy	4
04/23/25 vs Middle Township	13
04/22/25 vs Greenfield	5
+ 9 more games

The Mercyhurst Prep Lakers will head out to challenge the Union City Bears at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Mercyhurst Prep is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.8 runs per game this season.

Mercyhurst Prep's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They didn't even let Seneca on the board, marking the Lakers' second-straight 15-0 shutout. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Lakers.

Brady Rice looked comfortable as he kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in six consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Zack Kruszewski was incredible, going 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, three runs, and two doubles. That's the most runs he has posted since back in May of 2024. Another player making a difference was Jack Stoker, who went 1-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and one double.

Mercyhurst Prep always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .516. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Seneca only posted an OBP of .077.

Meanwhile, after soaring to 17 runs the game before, Union City was a bit more limited in their contest on Wednesday. They fell just short of Iroquois by a score of 2-1. The Bears' defeat signaled the end of their five-game winning streak.

Mercyhurst Prep pushed their record up to 13-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.8 runs over those games. As for Union City, their loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 4-1 and their overall record down to 5-3.

Mercyhurst Prep was able to grind out a solid win over Union City in their previous meeting back in May of 2019, winning 4-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Lakers since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.