Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ERIE, PA - Stephen Cooke (Severn, MD/Archbishop Curley) tossed his second straight shutout in game one as the IUP baseball team split a pair of close games with Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West rival Mercyhurst Friday. The Crimson Hawks scored a trio of runs in the eighth inning to take game one 3-0, but a late-game rally gave the Lakers a 3-2 win in game two.

IUP 3, MERCYHURST 0 (8 Innings)

Cooke was fantastic once again for the Crimson Hawks (12-8, 1-1 PSAC West), fanning 10 Mercyhurst batters in eight scoreless innings on the bump. Cooke has now thrown 18 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to March 15 at Chowan. The IUP ace scattered just three hits Friday and walked just one.

It took extra innings for either team to find the scoreboard, but the Crimson Hawks were finally able to solve Laker hurler Dan Altavilla in the top of the eighth when Dylan Tice (Perkasie/Pennridge) smacked an RBI single to give IUP a 1-0 lead. Just two batters later, Aaron Lupia (Middletown/Middletown) would knock in two more runs with a single to center that scored Tice and Robbie Zinsmeister (Hatfield/North Penn).

The three run lead would be more than enough for Cooke, who retired the bottom of the frame in order to earn his fifth win of the season and lower his ERA to a staggering 1.93.

IUP was only able to muster six hits in the ballgame, but strung together a big inning in the clutch. Tice finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Zinsmeister went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.

MERCYHURST 3, IUP 2

Lupia stayed hot early in game two for the Crimson Hawks, driving in Zinsmeister with an RBI groundout to give IUP an early 1-0 lead. The Crimson Hawks would tack on another run in the first when Troy Foster (Shamong, NJ/Seneca) reached on an error that allowed Tice to score.

Unfortunately for IUP, the Crimson Hawks were unable to score after the first inning, as Mercyhurst pitcher Ben Rawding allowed just eight hits and one earned run in a complete game effort. The Lakers cut the deficit in half in the second on a Hank Morrison sacrifice fly, and tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth when Zak Blair laced an RBI single through the left side.

Mercyhurst (16-11, 2-4 PSAC West) would take its first lead in the bottom of the sixth on an Anthony Tomasone sacrifice fly, and Rawding would shut down the Crimson Hawks in the seventh to salt away the win.

Brett Quiggle (Weedville/St. Marys) went 3-for-3 at the plate in game two, while Tice went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Kyle Zambanini (Jerome/Conemaugh Twp.) suffered his first loss of the season in game two, but allowed just two earned runs and struck out four in six strong innings on the hill.

The two teams will wrap a four-game set with a twinbill from Erie tomorrow afternoon at Tullio Field. Game one is set for 10:30 a.m., while game two is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.