BOISE, Idaho - Former Mercyhurst College baseball standout Steve Grife has been promoted to the Chicago Cubs short-season A team.
The right-handed pitcher joined the Boise Hawks and appeared in Tuesday's contest against the Indianapolis Indians, throwing two scoreless innings in relief, giving up two hits and striking out three batters as the Indians completed the come-from-behind 5-4 win in 10 innings.
The 2008 draftee received his promotion after appearing in 14 games for the Mesa Cubs rookie team. In the Arizona League, Grife threw 16.1 innings en route to a 1-1 record while also earning two saves. Grife allowed 13 runs, 12 earned, on 19 hits while striking out 22 batters and walking 15 for the Mesa squad.
Grife headlined the 2009 Lakers starting lineup, posting a 5-1 record with a 3.24 ERA in 67 innings of work this spring. The right-hander’s 73 strikeouts led the team, tying the fifth-best single-season mark and moved him to 181 in three years for Mercyhurst, third all-time. He tossed his first career no-hitter on April 4th against Lake Erie in a 6-0 win for his fifth shutout of his career, giving him the all-time mark at Mercyhurst in shutouts. Meanwhile, his 15-9 career record as a Laker ranks fifth all-time.
He helped guide Mercyhurst to one of the best seasons in recent history as the Lakers won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division regular season title before advancing to the title tilt of both the PSAC Tournament and the NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament.
The 2009 Mercyhurst edition posted one of the best seasons in program history, setting several team and individual marks.
The Lakers ended the season 24th among pollsters from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association while finishing 30th in both the NCAA/Collegiate Baseball and PING! Baseball rankings.
The Lakers also defeated a No.1-ranked team for the first time in program history when Mercyhurst defeated Lynn University on March 1 by a 10-6 count.
Additionally, the 2009 edition finished tied with the 2006 squad for the second-most victories behind only the 1997 unit that went 40-8.