Box Score

JOHNSTOWN – Justin Urschel was 4-for-4 with a double and a home run and Adam Gray hit a three-run homer in the third inning to lead Mercyhurst to a 7-2 win over East Stroudsburg University on the second day of the PSAC baseball tournament on Thursday afternoon at Point Stadium.

The loss ends the Warriors season with a 26-20 record after they qualified for the conference playoffs for the first time since 2007 and just the fourth time in school history. ESU's 58 wins over the past two seasons, including a school-record 32 last year, are the most in school history.

Mercyhurst (26-21) will play the loser of tonight's winners' bracket game between Kutztown and IUP on Friday at 12:30 p.m.

Freshman Colin Kelly didn't allow an earned run in 5.0 innings in relief of freshman Brian Ernst, but the Lakers' 5-0 lead through four innings proved to be too much to overcome. Ernst was one of four freshmen in the Warriors' starting lineup on Thursday, along with four sophomores and one junior on a team that won 15 of its final 18 regular season games to qualify for the PSAC postseason.

Ernst was 2-for-4 at the plate, doubled and scored the first of ESU's two runs in the sixth inning. Sophomore 2B Ryan Guarino also had two hits as the Warriors produced eight hits off two Mercyhurst pitchers, Ben Rawding (6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 runs) and Joe Cochran (2.2 IP, 2 hits), who earned the save.

The Lakers got on the board in the top of the first, as Craig Denman and Trey Bennett started the game with back-to-back base hits, Denman advanced to third on a fly ball to right-center and scored on a wild pitch.

ESU had its first scoring chance in the second when Rawding walked redshirt sophomore 3B Jake Griesemer, freshman 1B Tom Spilatore and sophomore CF Carey Zimmerman to load the bases before a 6-4 fielders' choice ended the inning.

Gray's three-run homer in the third came with one out after a base hit by Justin Urschel and a catcher's interference, and Urschel gave the Lakers a 5-0 lead with a solo homer in the fifth.

Mercyhurst threatened again in the fifth as a hit batter and a double by Gray put runners on second and third with nobody out. Kelly relieved Ernst and got clean-up hitter Ethan Santora to pop out, then walked the next batter before getting a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.

The Warriors scored both of their runs in the bottom of the sixth. Ernst doubled to deep center to start the inning and moved to third on a ground ball to the right side by freshman catcher Nico Delerme. Griesemer and Cain walked to load the bases and Spilatore flared a single down the line in right to drive in the first run. Griesemer came home on a sacrifice fly to right by Zimmerman to make the score 5-2 before Rawding got out of the frame.

Kelly retired the side in order in the seventh and stranded Urschel on second after a two-out double in the eighth to keep the Warriors in the game.

Griesemer led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk but was erased on a double play, while sophomore SS Evan Gallagher and Guarino singled in the ninth before another double play ended the game.

Mercyhurst added its final two runs in the top of the ninth, both unearned off of Kelly, who appeared in his 16th game of the year and finishes his freshman season with a 4-3 record and 3.95 ERA in 43.1 innings.

Gallagher's infield single in the ninth was the last of his 67 hits this season, tied with Kevin Thompson's campaign last year for the seventh-most in school history. Gallagher hit .387 in 46 games as the Warriors' starting shortstop, led the team with 38 runs and was second with 29 RBI. His .442 on-base percentage was also the best among ESU's regular starters, just ahead of Guarino (.440 on-base percentage, .359 batting average).

A pair of freshmen, Delerme and Eric Boyer, both threatened the .400 mark in part-time roles. Delerme hit .395, going 34-for-86, while Boyer hit .393 (35-89) and played his way into the starting lineup before suffering a season-ending injury on April 17.

Ernst had a team-best 5-3 record on the mound and struck out 49 batters in 51.0 innings. He was in the lineup in all but one of the Warriors' 46 games and hit .305 with 13 doubles and six home runs. He also led ESU with 31 RBI and was second with 31 runs. Junior LF/3B Jason Kelmer hit a team-high eight homers.

Senior pitcher Christian Saveri set ESU's career record with his 65th appearance in Wednesday's start vs. IUP, a 7-3 loss. The left-hander had a 3.37 ERA with 65 strikeouts and 14 walks in 69.1 innings as a senior and is second in school history with nine career saves, sixth in strikeouts (161) and tied for eighth with 14 wins. His 3.94 career ERA in 175.2 innings is the fourth-best at ESU since 1985.

Senior catcher Brendan O'Connor, a three-year starter, and first baseman Kenny Serfass, who hit six home runs this season, also played in their final career games at ESU in the conference tournament.