ERIE, Penn. – The Grand Valley State baseball team is set to travel to Erie, Pennsylvania for a pair of nine inning games on Friday (March 17) against Salem (WV) at 11:00 AM and Mercyhurst at 2:00 PM. Both games will be played at the Mercyhurst Baseball Field.
 
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The Lakers returned from their spring trip in Florida where they played 10 games in seven days. GVSU went 9-1 during the trip as the bats got hot in the sunshine state. During the 10 game stretch, the Laker offense scored over 10 runs in four games and over eight runs in six of those games. GVSU notched a season high 23 hits in an 11-9 win in 12 innings against Wayne State (Neb.). The Lakers also recorded 20 hits in a come from behind win against regional foe Ashland. GVSU entered the ninth inning down two runs and rallied to scored four runs to earn a 14-13 win. 
 
Junior infielder Connor Schuman leads the Lakers with a .400 batting average this season appearing in all 13 games. Schuman is second on the team with 11 runs batted in and 16 hits. Junior outfielder Kyle Nott has hit .365 at the plate with a team leading 15 runs scored and 26 total bases. Freshman infielder Ayden VanEnkevort leads the team with 13 runs batted in and has notched a .359 batting average to start the season. 
 
The Laker pitching staff has tossed a 4.75 team ERA this season. Junior Nick Rutkowski went 2-0 last week in Florida including a complete game shutout in a 2-0 win against Wlmington (Del.). Rutkowski struck out three in the win allowing just five hits. The Sterling Heights native also tossed six innings allowing just two runs off five hits in an 8-3 win against California (Pa.). Freshman Mike Morawski stepped up for the Lakers earning his first two collegiate wins last week. Morawski tossed a complete game allowing just one run off five hits with four strikeouts in a 14-1 win over Davis & Elkins. The freshman pitched 7.2 innings of relief allowing no earned runs in the 11-9 win over Wayne State in 12 innings. Senior Sam Leck pickud up a pair of saves against Lewis and Minnesota Duluth. 
 
Salem enters the weekend with a 5-12 record having lost six of their last seven. The Tigers will face Mercyhurst in a doubleheader Thursday before facing the Lakers on Friday. Graduate Kaiden Zacharias leads the team with a .327 batting average, 18 hits, three triples, and eight runs batted in. Sophomore Jacob Hurley is hitting .325 on the season eight runs batted in and seven runs scored. Sophomore Sam Schmitt leads the pitching staff with a 1-1 record and a 2.25 ERA. Schmitt has 40 strikeouts with 13 walks. 
 
Mercyhurst enters Friday's game with a 4-4 record winning their last three games. Vincent Stutz and Ryan Hill lead the team each with a .350 batting average. Eric Chorba leads the team eight runs batted in, seven runs scored, and 15 total bases. Jacob Bazala leads the team with a 1-0 record and 3.27 ERA. Bazala has made five appearances all in relief striking out 11 batters.
 
Follow @gvsubaseball on Twitter for live in-game updates and visit gvsulakers.com for links to live stats and video.