Box Score ERIE, Pa. -- Playing against one of the best teams in the Atlantic Region on Tuesday afternoon, the Notre Dame Falcons came up just short, in a 5-4 loss to Mercyhurst.
The Falcons (12-9) lost their third non-conference contest, and came very close to ending Mercyhurst's(25-1) 15-game winning streak. The Lakers entered the contest ranked second in the Atlantic region.
Notre Dame was very impressive, going toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the Region, and they led for most of the game.
Both teams had chances to score in the first three innings of the contest but couldn't cash in, and the Falcons fired the first shot in the top of the fourth inning, capitalizing on a two-out error.
Bryan Blondeaux got things going with a one out double to the gap in left center, and he came around to score as
Taylor Neville reached on left fielder Hank Morrison's two out error to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
Blondeaux struck again for the Falcons two innings later.
Danny Beaver began the inning with a single to left field, before Blondeaux belted his first long ball of the season, a two-run homer to left field, giving the Falcons a 3-0 advantage.
The Lakers chipped away at the lead, getting a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, before tying the game with a pair of runs in the seventh. Giancarlo Saia drove in the first run with a RBI single in the sixth inning, before they tied it in the seventh on Stephen Scaccia's RBI single to center, and Angel Martinez's sac fly RBI.
It didn't take long for the Falcons to respond, as they answered in the next half inning to regain the lead, and used the long ball to do so.
Blake Miller started the inning by hammering a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left field for his second homer of the season, giving the Falcons a 4-3 lead.
Mercyhurst used the long ball to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Daniel Elliot smashed a solo homer to center field with two outs to make it a 4-4 ballgame.
The Lakers won on an errant throw, winning in walk off fashion in the ninth. A one out walk was issued to Austin Alonge, who then made his way to third on a double from Brendan Cox, which forced the Falcons to intentionally walk Saia to load the bases. Morrison then hit a ground ball to second, and an errant throw followed, allowing the winning run to score.
Notre Dame used four different pitchers in the contest.
Zack LaRocca started the game, and tossed two scoreless innings while fanning three, while
Josh Armbruster worked two scoreless innings to follow, surrendering just a base hit.
Matt Seekins (2-2) took the loss, after allowing a pair of runs on three hits over 1.1 innings of action.
Offensively, the Falcons were led by both Miller and Blondeaux, who had two hits each on a day where seven Falcons hit safely at least once. Miller went 2-for-4 on the afternoon, and Blondeaux went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs and drove in two as well.
The Falcons are in action again on Saturday, April 11, when they host Shepherd in a Mountain East Conference double header at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio. The first pitch in game one is scheduled for 1 p.m.
