JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Mercyhurst baseball team managed to go 1-1 against #14 West Chester on Saturday and clinched a position in the Pennslyvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title game. The Lakers (37-5) dropped their first game against the Rams (36-11) 18-4 before bouncing back with a 14-12 win in a wild game two.
 
Individual game recaps are below.
 
Game 1: West Chester 18, Mercyhurst 4
The Lakers lost by its greatest margin of the season to West Chester in Saturday's first game, losing 18-4.
 
Mercyhurst started the game with three runs in the first inning. Drew Delsignore roped his second triple of the season to score two runs, followed by an RBI-single by Dan Popio to put the Lakers ahead by 3-0.
 
Lakers' starter Vincenzo Lucente started strong in the first three innings of his start, but he hit turbulence in the fourth inning. RBI-hits by Joe Sheeran, Drew Jarmuz, and Clay Harmick sent the Rams ahead 4-3 and they did not look back from there. The same three players drove in runs in the fifth inning to chase Lucente from the game and give him his first loss of the season (5-1).
 
The Rams scored at least one run in every inning from the fourth inning until the end of the game and only allowed a solo home run by Matthew Schneider in the ninth inning. Rams' starter Mike Cipolla turned in a quality start with seven innings pitched, five hits, and three total runs (two earned) to improve to 7-2 on the season.
 
Game 2: Mercyhurst 14, West Chester 12
In game two, the Lakers got a huge individual performance at the plate from Drew Delsignore in a gutty win to clinch a spot in the PSAC title game.
 
Delsignore had one of the best offensive performances of the season for the Lakers, going 5-for-6 with seven runs batted in. His doubles in the first and eighth innings and his home run in the third were the big highlights of the day.
 
After allowing three solo home runs, Lakers' starter Connor Ryan neutralized the Rams' bats. He completed five innings and struck out seven by mixing in off-speed pitches to keep West Chester hitters off balance.
 
Sabatino DiNardo III also provided a solid offensive effort with two hits and two RBI. He hit a solo home run in the sixth. Jimmy Latona also launched a solo shot in the seventh to begin a four-run inning for the Lakers.
 
Mercyhurst led 9-3 going into the bottom of the seventh before the Rams stormed back to score six runs in the frame tie the game. Andrew Ciolli was tasked with closing out the Rams in the final 2 2/3 innings and it didn't come without its tense moments. He did have the luxury of two big insurance runs in the ninth inning driven in by Cameron Balego and Delsignore. Despite three home runs from West Chester in the last three innings, Ciolli earned his first win of the season and helped the Lakers clinch their third PSAC title game berth in program history.
 
The Lakers will play Seton Hill beginning at 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning. The Griffins navigated their side of bracket to a 3-0 record, including their most recent win in extra innings over Shippensburg. Since Mercyhurst has lost one game in the double-elmination tournament format, they will have to beat Seton Hill twice to win their first PSAC title since 2011.