Niagara University, NY - Niagara baseball closed out the non-conference portion of their schedule defeating Mercyhurst 7-5 Tuesday afternoon at Bobo Field.
The Purple Eagles improved to 24-17-1, while the Lakers fell to 15-30.
After two scoreless innings from Niagara starter Andrew Baumgart, the Purple Eagles broke through in the bottom of the second when Shawn Cameron led off with a walk and came around to score on Carter Aarts' RBI double to right-center.
Mercyhurst answered with a pair of runs in the top of the third as Darek Staudt drove both runners home with a two-run homer to left field. Niagara responded in the bottom half, scoring one on Ganschow's RBI double to left that plated Hammill to knot the game back up at two.
The Lakers regained the lead in the top of the fourth on Black's RBI double down the left-field line that scored Jayden Walker, but Niagara broke the game open with four runs in the bottom half of the frame.Â
Jacob Brooks then drove in Nate Milk on a fielder's choice to make it 3-2. Hammill followed with a three-run homer to left field, clearing the bases and putting Niagara ahead 6-2.
John Ondus relieved Baumgart in the fourth, who ended the day with 3.2 innings of work. Ondus threw 1.1 innings of scoreless ball, before Johnny Montgomery took over to start the sixth.
Montgomery threw two shutout innings and the offense gave him an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh as Nate Milk led off with a solo home run to left, to grow the lead to 7-2.Â
Rece Allensworth came in for the eighth and the Lakers drew within two with a two-run homer from Black, but Andrew Damiani came on in the ninth to earn his 11th save of the season and secure the 7-5 victory.
Game Notes
Niagara is now 6-5 all-time against Mercyhurst
Damiani tied the Purple Eagles single-season save record with 11
Dolansky made his first appearance as a batter and recorded his first hit of the season
Ondus recorded his first win of the season
Hammill is on an 11 game hitting streak
Up Next
Niagara wraps up regular season play with a three game conference series against Mount St. Mary's starting Wednesday May 13 at 3pm at Bobo Field.
