No. 21 Mercyhurst 4, No. 8 Millersville 2 (12 inn.)

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- Ethan Santora's 2-run homer to left field in the bottom of the 12th inning propelled No. 21 Mercyhurst past No. 8 Millersville, 4-2, to advance to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship  on Saturday.

The Lakers (38-10) will now face Indiana (Pa.) for the title at 1 p.m. in Point Stadium.  Meanwhile, the Atlantic Region's No. 1-ranked team is eliminated.

Santora's home run was twice as nice for the program since the junior not only tied the Mercyhurst all-time home run mark (28) but helped the Lakers avoid a rematch with Millersville (39-10) in the loser's bracket tomorrow morning.

Down to their final strike in the bottom of the nine, the comeback kids posted their third-straight extra-inning win at the postseason tournament in their most dramatic fashion yet. 

Shane Latshaw started the rally with a single before advancing to second when Anthony Tomasone was hit by a pitch.  That's when Urschel provided the late-inning heroics with his laser RBI-double down the left-field line.  Urschel then stole third base to put the winning run just 90 feet away but Jonathan Keppler could not connect, and Mercyhurst went into extras again.

Prior to the ninth inning, the Lakers did not have a base runner go past second and were held to just three hits. 

Mercyhurst had the chance to push the game-winner across in the bottom of the 10th and the 11th but could not connect as a ground out ended the 10th frame and a bases-loaded foul out stopped the Lakers in the 11th. 

Pitching and timely hitting was the story of the night as the two teams rolled through the game.  Millersville opened the scoring quickly on Zach Stone's RBI double to left field in the top of the first.  The Marauders then added a run in teh top of the fourht when designated hitter Carlos Medina singled home Stone, and on the play, Medina was cut down at second to end any further threats.

For Mercyhurst, the Lakers could not find an offensive rhythm and struggled to get base runners against a stingy Millersville defense. 

The Lakers starter, Zach Leitten, continued his strong work on the mound.  He went nine innings in the no-decision, striking out a career-high 13 while allowing five hits.  Reliever Matthew Jimenez picked up the win in three solid innings of work, limiting Millersville to just two hits while striking out four batters.

Notes: 

Junior Ethan Santora hit his 28th career home run, tying the Mercyhurst record set by Pat Cutschall (1994-97).

The Lakers advance to the PSAC Championship game for the second time in the last three seasons since joining the league as members in 2008-09.

The 38 wins ties the 2009 (38-17) and 2006 (38-15) squads for the second-best record in program history.  The 1996 squad owns the all-time mark of 40 (40-8).