ERIE, Pa. - FDU Baseball (24-15, 17-5 NEC) used a 20 run effort from the offense to take down the Mercyhurst Lakers (13-22, 12-10 NEC) at Mercyhurst Baseball Field on Friday afternoon.

The Knights got eight RBI's from third baseman Diego Urreta, as Urreta came one RBI shy of tying the single game record, which was set by Travis Stroh last weekend at Le Moyne just six days ago. Friday afternoon marks the ninth time that the Knights have scored 15 or more runs, going 7-2 in those ballgames. 

The Knights opened the game with a big swing from Diego Urreta, as Urreta launched his sixth homer of the season with a grand slam to give the Knights the first four runs of the ballgame. The Lakers would get on the board in the third, as after two zeros from FDU starter Chris Mattioli, the Lakers were able to open their scoring with an RBI single, that made the score 4-1 after the opening three innings. 

FDU would plate five runs in the fourth inning as both Hunter Ray and Diego Urreta went deep to extend the Knights lead to 9-1 in the fourth. Hunter Ray's home run was his 20th of the season, and along with his two stolen bases Friday afternoon, Ray becomes the first player in the country to get to 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the 2026 campaign. 

The Knights created more traffic in the 6th and 7th innings, as Hunter Ray stole home on a first and third play to make it 10-1 FDU. In the seventh inning, Jeremy Delamota and Johnathan Gomez both drove in runs on base hits, and the game stood at 12-1 FDU heading into the bottom of the seventh, as the Knights needed just three outs to end the game.

Mercyhurst would keep the game alive with three runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh, as the Lakers were able to extend the game against FDU reliever Chris Messina. The Knights took advantage of the extra inning that they were given, and plated eight runs in the eighth inning.

The big time rally from FDU included four bases loaded walks, a bases clearing double from Caleb Walker, and a Travis Stroh SAC fly. The Knights held a big time advantage of 20-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Lakers would scratch across two more runs against Messina, but it would not be enough to keep the ballgame going, and the Knights cruised to the finish line, grabbing their 17th NEC win of the season, and 24th overall. 
 

WHAT'S NEXT

FDU and Mercyhurst will meet for the second game of the three game set at Mercyhurst Baseball Field tomorrow at 1 p.m. Jeremy Cheeseman is set to be the starter for FDU and the game will be streamed on NEC Front Row.  Read Full Article