ERIE, Pa. – A pair of solo home runs and a terrific pitching performance highlight Notre Dame College's Wednesday afternoon at Mercyhurst University, however the Falcons fell narrowly, 3-2 in nine innings.
 
Starting pitcher Cameron Kern twirled a commendable game despite being tagged with the loss. The Beaver Falls, Pa. native, threw 8.0 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits, while striking out six and walking five. The redshirt sophomore tied a career-high in punch outs, while registering tied for the ninth most innings pitched in NDC program history.
 
Alec Mendoza opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, as the redshirt junior deposited his first home run of the season to left center field (1-0).
 
Sophomore Nate Miller followed suit with his first home run of the year, a solo shot during the top of the second inning, clearing the left field wall (2-0).
 
Mercyhurst cut the NDC lead in half during the bottom of the third inning, scoring one run on one hit, with help from two Falcon errors (2-1).
 
Kern locked the Lakers down over the first seven innings, allowing two hits and zero earned runs. However, MU tallied their third hit of the contest on a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to move in front 3-2.
 
Mendoza paced the Notre Dame College offense with his 11^th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4 at the plate.
 
Miller and Tyler Shadle joined the action, batting 1-for-3 and 1-for-4, respectively.
 
The Notre Dame College baseball team will be back in action on Saturday and Sunday Apr. 29-30 for a four-game series against Frostburg State University, with the games being played at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.