ERIE, Pa. – Dan Sepic (York, Pa./Central York) out-dueled Mercyhurst ace Jon Klein in a 3-0 game two victory as the Crimson Hawks earned a conference baseball split with the sixth-ranked Lakers on Friday afternoon.
 
The true freshman right hander Sepic tossed a complete game shutout, scattering four hits and striking out two as he dealt Klein his first loss (6-1) of the season.
 
The Crimson Hawks got all the run support they needed in the second inning, as a Wes Carson (Woodstock, Md./Marriots Ridge) double brought home Hunter Bigler (Washington/Trinity) and Rick Jones (New Castle/Laurel) and a Mike Lupia (Middletown/Middletown) single scored Carson from the second.
 
Sepic gave up just one hit in each of the first three innings, with one more in the sixth as he shut down one of the top hitting teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
 
The Crimson Hawks nearly pulled off the sweep as they were edged 3-2 in the opening game. The Lakers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning off of starter Zach Chinchilla (Ambridge, Pa./Quigley Catholic). Chinchilla would give way to Christian McClure (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) after an injury with one out in the first. McClure tossed 4.1 innings, giving up just one hit and one run. Justin Charles (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York) threw the last 1.1 innings in relief, striking out one.
 
IUP picked up one run in each of the fourth and fifth innings on solo home runs by Austin Mock (State College, Pa./State College) and Chris Schaedel (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier), respectively.
 
Mercyhurst scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly with one out in the bottom half of the fifth and got IUP to go 1-2-3 in each of the next two innings to earn the win.
 
These two teams will finish their four-game series on Saturday the IUP hosts the Lakers at Dougherty Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
 
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.