Sports

Baseball faces Gannon Golden Knights

By Samantha Weber

Editor in chief

On April 2, the men’s baseball team played a double header against Gannon University Golden Knights.

This set of games were played at Gannon University. Graduate student Josh Surowiec hit his seventh home run of the year in the top of the third inning and senior Casimer Sobaszek was also able to score on this hit. Gannon responded in the bottom of the inning with two runs and in the fourth inning they took the lead on a wild pitch.

In the top of the seventh inning, senior Jack Elliott scored a run making the score tied at 3-3. Gannon eventually took the lead and held onto it for the rest of the game from an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning.

For the Lakers, sophomore Jarrett Heilman started out pitching and was eventually replaced by freshman Jacob Bazala.

In the second game, the Lakers lost 1-0. Sobaszek and sophomore Luke Jackson had hits in the game, but were unable to score.

Graduate student Matthew Gibson and sophomore Aidan Morrison drew walks. Sophomore John Bufford Jr. was the starting pitcher and freshman Aiden Kelly took over in the sixth inning.

On April 3, the baseball team played another double header against the Golden Knights. The games were played at Mercyhurst, giving the home advantage to the Lakers.

In the first game, the Lakers started off well when Surowiec drove in Gibson with a single.

In the bottom of the second, the Lakers scored another run when senior Philip Ferranti scored on Gibson’s double to the left-center gap.

Gannon scored in the top of the third with a three run homer. In the bottom of the third, the Lakers scored three runs too.

Ferranti drove in Jackson, and one batter later, senior Logan Martella-Tasick hit a double off the wall to bring in Ferranti and Jack Elliott. This was the Lakers last run of the game.

The Golden Knights tied the game at 5-5 in the fifth inning and they scored once more in the sixth inning, making the final score 7-5 in favor of Gannon.

The pitchers for the Lakers were graduate student Josh Greggs, Bazala and Kelly.

In the second game, sophomore Daniel Thomas started as the pitcher and he had no-hitter going into the fifth inning. This was his first career complete game and he struck out eight people in it.

The first run for the Lakers came in the fourth inning on an error when the Gannon pitcher overthrew to the first baseman on an attempted pickoff and Elliott was able to score on the play.

In the fifth inning, the Lakers had runners on first and second and Ferranti hit one that was dropped in right field and both runners were able to score while Ferranti made it to third base.

The Lakers shutout the Golden Knights 3-0 in the second game.

Hurst Athletics photo

Sophomore pitcher Daniel Thomas pitching the ball in a game against the Gannon Golden Knights.

In 2011, Jerome Simon had just sold his family business with plans of retirement on this horizon. However, when the Mercyhurst athletic director called him with a request of finding a new tennis coach for the Lakers, it changed Simon’s plans for the future.

Simon had no intentions of coaching for Mercyhurst but has been here for over a decade and has helped change the atmosphere and record of the tennis team.

Simon had an interesting and motivating introduction to the sport of tennis. At 14, Simon’s father purchased a tennis racquet and entered his son in his very first tournament.

“Of course, I lost to my opponent and from then on, I told myself I would never lose to him again. So, I worked hard and kept that promise to myself,” Simon remembers.

Simon graduated from Edinboro University in 1974. During his undergraduate career, Simon served as team captain and secured a PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) title in addition to a multitude of team and individual titles in District 18 of the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics).

Later in life, Simon was inducted into his alma mater’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.

Following graduation, Simon turned to building, running and even owning tennis clubs throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.

He first began at Westwood Racquet Club, which is a full circle moment for him as this is where the Mercyhurst tennis teams practice and compete in matches.

Simon eventually returned to Erie, where he grew up, and established a new girl’s tennis program at Fairview High School.

This program was known for its no-cut policy, which Simon was very proud of.

This is Simon’s 11th year at Mercyhurst, and he is coming up on his 50th year as a member of

Get to know Mercyhurst tennis coach By Libby Bullinger Copy editor the US Professional Tennis Association. Simon has been coaching tennis for 44 seasons. When Simon made his way to Mercyhurst, he recalls that the women’s team had a good record, but the men’s team needed some HURST RESULTS work, calling the men “not very good in spite of having the best players in the region and conferApril 2: ence.” Women’s Simon was determined to turn that record around. Although Lacrosse vs the men’s team only won a single match in his first year, the new IUP: 11-12, IUP coach was able to bring in new recruits and improve the overall culture of the team. April 2: Softball Clearly his methods were effective since just four years after his vs Edinboro arrival the team won the region and qualified for nationals. University: 4-3 Outside of his work with the team, Simon enjoys spending Lakers Contributed photo time with his family, helping his Men’s and women’s tennis coach Jerome Simon. son with his business, and play ing on the golf course. April 2: Men’s His future hopes for the Mercyhurst tennis teams are to win Tennis vs the conference, regionals and go to the national tournament, as Duquesne both individuals and as a team. University : 2-5, He is optimistic about the future of the teams and loves Duquesne spending time with the men and women involved in the tennis program, fondly referring to them as “his sons and daughters” on campus.

Women’s water polo splits two games

On Saturday, April 2, the Mercyhurst women’s water polo team competed in the Penn State Behrend Invitational.

The invite consisted of two games. The first game was played at 10 a.m. against Penn State Behrend, and the second was played at 1:30 p.m. against Salem University. The Lakers split the games, winning the first game against Behrend, but they unfortunately could not pull out a win in the second game against Salem.

The team’s win against Behrend allowed the Lakers to pull out of a losing slump.

In the first quarter of the first game, the Lakers pulled ahead with 5 goals, leaving the score 5-2 at the end of the first quarter. Just 32 seconds into the game, the Lions scored, however soon after senior Sara Marin scored twice for the Lakers.

The scoring did not stop there, junior Hanna Good and senior Alexa Anderberg each scored for Mercyhurst, giving the Lakers a lead.

Behrend did not let the scoring streak for the Lakers last. The Lions got a goal with 1:32 remaining in the quarter.

Junior Ava Gebhardt responded to the Lions goal and scored

Hurst Athletics photo

Sophomore Allie Dombkowski throws the ball to her teammate in a game during the Behrend Invitational.

for the Lakers leaving the score 5-2 going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, the Lakers scored four more goals. The score after the quarter was 9-3.

Sophomore Rachel Vlietstra scored two of the goals along with additional goals from sophomore Emma Ruttinger and freshman Phoebe Saunders.

In the third quarter, Vlietstra scored her third goal resulting in a hat trick.

After Vlietstra’s hat trick, Berhend scored three goals in a row and dominated a majority of the third quarter.

The Lakers bounced back and Good stopped the Lions scoring with 43 seconds left in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Lions went on a scoring run and scored four goals in a row. The Lakers scored twice after.

Vlietstra scored her fourth goal of the night and sophomore Allie Dombkowski scored her first of the night.

The final score of the first game was 13-10, with the Lakers bringing home the victory.

Freshman goalie Marley Ramon played all 32 minutes and stopped 17 of the Lions shots.

The second game of the day was played at 1:30 p.m. against the Salem University Tigers. Salem scored five straight goals before the Lakers could get a goal. Mercyhurst’s first two goals were scored by sophomore Sakura Gavin.

Gavin’s two goals allowed the score to be 5-2 in favor of Salem. The Tigers finished the first half of the game scoring five more goals.

In the second half of the game, Good scored three goals allowing for a hat trick. Gebhardt scored her second goal of the day. Despite these goals, Salem ended up winning with a final score of 17-7.

The women’s water polo team will participate in the WWPA conference weekend on Saturday, April 9, against McKendree University and Gannon University.

Erie native James Conner and his journey to the NFL

By Bella Lee Staff writer

Most natives of Erie are well aware of the local celebrity that is James Conner.

A student of McDowell High School, Conner went on to go to college at the University of Pittsburgh before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 2017 draft. Now a member of the Arizona Cardinals, the running back shows no signs of slowing down.

In just five seasons with the NFL, Conner has been a beast. He has totaled 3,054 rushing yards and 1,338 receiving yards so far, an impressive feat for a young player.

In his rookie season, Conner did not fumble the ball once. He has since only fumbled the ball nine times in his career, contributing to the success of his teams.

He has so far spent four seasons with the Steelers and one with the Cardinals, and he just signed a 3-year-deal to remain with the Cardinals on March 14.

While attending McDowell, Conner had a formidable career. As a senior, he rushed for 1,680 yards on 155 carries and 26 touchdowns. He then committed to playing football at Pitt in August 2012.

During his freshman season in 2013, Conner was a force to be reckoned with. His extremely

Contributed photo

Erie native and Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner.

successful season was topped off with being named the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl MVP following Pitt’s victory over Bowling Green.

His sophomore year saw him leading the ACC in rushing yards, with 1,765, and was named ACC Player of the Year.

Junior year was a bit of a setback for Conner, as he tore his ACL in the opening game against Youngstown State and was later diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but recovered from both during the off-season.

His senior year was also cut short, but because Conner chose to forgo the rest of the year to apply for early eligibility in the 2017 NFL draft.

When Conner was diagnosed with cancer in 2015, he was told he had tumors in his heart and was only given a week to live.

Conner got treated with chemotherapy. Although his cancer diagnosis prevented him from playing football, Conner stated the hardest part about fighting the illness was telling his friends and family.

“The hardest part about the whole thing was telling my bros,” Conner said. “I remember that like it was yesterday. How would they feel if their youngest brother died? I said, ‘I can’t do it. I can’t go.’”

Conner was lucky and can now call himself a cancer survivor. He became cancer free in 2016 and returned to Pitt for his senior year.

After battling cancer, Conner has been producing exceptional yards and has made a successful career out of football despite his health induced setbacks.

Conner has been a very exciting player these past five years. At the age of just 26, he is not a player you want to mess with. It is undeniable that he will remain in the NFL for many years to come.

All of us in Erie are so excited to see what’s in store for him.